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REESE  LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA. 
l^eceivei  1  J&.4sr*7~ 

<^7  ^7  3    9    <> 

Accession  No.    //c/^o^,.   Class  No. 

—-—imf 


E.  D.   BAKER'S  SPEECHES. 

"You  are  making  good  books  "—DR.  J.  H. 


C. 

"  E.  D.  Baker  was  the  foremost  of  the 
world's  orators"  —  JUDGE  E.  M.  GIBSON. 

On  the  first  of  August,  1899,  I  will  publish  in 
attractive  book  form  (pocket  edition)  the 
Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  BAKER,  advocate,  orator, 
statesman  and  soldier  :  The  Atlantic  Cable  Ad 
dress  ;  The  Ferguson  Eulogy  ;  The  Broderick 
Oration  ;  The  American  Theater  Speech  ;  Re 
marks  at  the  Monster  Mass  Meeting,  New 
York  City  ;  The  Reply  to  Benjamin  ;  The  Reply 
to  Breckinridge  ;  the  Defense  of  Cora  ;  with 
prefatory  notices  of  each  occasion,  and  some 
thing  of  the  man.  Price,  one,  two  and  three 
•dollars,  according  to  binding.  No  canvassers. 
Send  orders  now  to  OSCAR  T.  SHUCK,  Editor 
and  Publisher,  509  Kearny  Street,  S.  F. 


OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY 


ELOQUENCE  OF  THE  FAR  WEST 


No.  I. 


of  €,  2E>,  Bafeet 


EDITED 

(WITH  GLANCES  AT  THE  ORATOR  AND  HIS  TIMES) 

BY  OSCAR  T.  SHUCK 
AUTHOR  OF  "  BENCH  AND  BAR  IN  CALIFORNIA  " 


SAN  FRANCISCO 
PUBLISHED    BY   THE    EDITOR 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1899,  by 

OSCAB  T.  SHUCK, 

In  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress, 
at  Washington. 


The  Murdock  Press 
San  Francisco 


UNIVERSI 
^CALIFOR 

Mr.  JOHN  W.  HENDRIE, 

South  Beach,  Connecticut. 

Kind  Sir:— 

BAKER  was  speaking  on  the  Atlantic 
seaboard  when  he  pointed  across  a  hemisphere,  back 
to  the  far  Pacific,— where  his  notes  were  yet  rever 
berating, —  and  modestly  said  that  his  voice  was 
feebler  than  the  feeblest  murmur  upon  our  shore* 

Near  where  he  stood  then,  you  have  long  rested 
—  on  the  Atlantic  border,  after  an  active  business 
career  on  this  far  strand.  If  the  clear  call  of  our 
ORATOR  did  not  swell  above  the  sound  of  the  sea, 
it  yet  touched  the  bounds  of  the  continent,  and  is 
resonant  still;  and  you  are  of  that  mass,  now  wide 
dispersed,  early  gathered  by  the  Golden  Gate,  who 
hear — even  now — its  "echoes  roll  from  soul  to  soul." 
Our  great  city,  whose  busy  streets  you  walked  a 
busy  man  so  long  ago— and  some  of  whose  cherished 
institutions  have  lately  quickened  at  your  touch — 
acknowledges  your  affectionate  remembrance,  and 
gives  you  greeting  from  afar. 

Remote,  now,  from  our  occidental  life,  you  keep 
alive  an  exceptional  concern  for  all  that  contributes 
to  our  well-being,  and  you  have  a  special,  impre 
scriptible  interest  in  the  riches  of  our  intellectual 
*See  pace  238. 


heritage.  You  will  love  this  book.  I  count  myselj 
happy  in  being  able  to  lay  it  under  your  eye;  and  1 
do  so,  recognizing  you  as  one  to  whom  our  friend's 
fame  is  dear,  and  in  the  hope  that  your  honored 
name  may  be  associated  with  his  through  coming 

time. 

I  am,  Sincerely, 

Your  Obliged  Friend,  and 

Obedient  Servant, 

THE  EDITOR. 
San  Francisco,  August  1, 1899. 


PEEFACE. 

WHETHER  at  the  bar,  or  beside  the  bier, — 
in  the  lecture  hall,  or  on  the  stump, — at 
public  festival,  or  in  solemn  debate  —  Baker 
spoke  for  Man.  Freedom  and  Glory  were 
the  constant  theme  of  this  free  and  glorious 
spirit;  we  shall  have  a  glimpse  of  him,  how 
ever,  invested  with  even  a  deeper  concern  — 
at  the  dedication  of  Lone  Mountain  Ceme 
tery.  His  many  arguments  and  speeches 
during  a  long  career  as  a  lawyer,  or  advo 
cate,  with  some  exceptions,  lost  their  interest 
as  the  occasion  passed.  The  most  notable  of 
these  exceptions — the  defense  of  Cora — 
has  its  place  in  this  volume.  As  a  lecturer, 
his  best  productions  are  lost;  that  is,  he  did 
not  write  them,  and  they  were  not  report 
ed:  as  The  Sea,  The  Plurality  of  Worlds, 
Socrates,  Books.  His  efforts  of  chief  excel 
lence,  however,  and  perhaps  on  broader  and 
higher  platforms,  were  fortunately  commit 
ted  to  type;  and  while  these  comprise  but  a 
small  part  of  his  life-work,  they  are  yet  a 
3 


Preface. 

great  deal  in  themselves,  and  are  precious. 
Like  all  the  emanations  of  this  gratifying 
and  satisfying  mind,  they  cast  no  lurid  light 
—  they  are  entirely  untainted  by  anything 
morbid,  or  moody,  or  cynical.  Healthful, 
hopeful,  virile,  prophetic,  their  tuition  is 
true,  and  ever  their  burden  is  the  advance 
ment  of  his  countrymen  and  his  kind.  Their 
perpetual  influence  must  be  salutary.  It 
is  well  that  his  ideals,  gathered  now  and 
gathered  forever,  should  unite  their  beauty 
before  the  century  closes  that  will  mark  his 
place  in  history. 

The  speeches  in  this  Volume  are  given  in 
full,  except  that  about  one  fourth  of  the 
Eeply  to  Benjamin  is  omitted,  on  account  of 
its  great  length ;  and  from  the  Defense  of 
Cora  much  of  the  analysis  of  the  evidence 
of  witnesses  has  been  eliminated. 

Since  BAKER  performed  his  noble  part, 
the  fast-hastening  years  have  brought  their 
many  contrasted  characters  on  the  scene,  to 
diversify  Time's  drama  on  our  western 
shore, —  but  he  is  SOVEREIGN.  That  tragic 
hour  is  far  off  now  —  when  he  went  to  his 
worthy  rest  among  the  great  men  who  are 
4 


Preface. 

sleeping  in  the  crypt  of  FAME — but  his 
spirit  will  kindle  the  hearts  of  men  as  long 
as  LONE  MOUNTAIN  shall  guard  his  grave,  or 
Shasta  and  Whitney  look  down  upon  the 
landscapes  that  he  loved. 


CONTENTS 

PAGES 

INTRODUCTORY  NOTICE  OF  BAKER    .     .  9-12 

THE  ATLANTIC  CABLE  ADDRESS     .     .  13-36 

THE  FERGUSON  EULOGY 39-59 

THE  BRODERICK  ORATION     ....  63-85 

THE  AMERICAN  THEATER  SPEECH  .     .  89  - 127 

THE  REPLY  TO  BENJAMIN    ....  131-223 

AT  THE  NEW  YORK  MASS-MEETING     .  227  -  239 

THE  REPLY  TO  BRECKINRIDGE      .     .  243  -  270 

DEATH  OF  BAKER—  His  FAMILY     .     .  273  -  282 

POEM  BY  BAKER 283-284 

THE  DEFENSE  OF  CORA      287-318 

DEDICATION  OF  LONE  MOUNTAIN  CEME 
TERY—IMMORTALITY   .  321-330 


EDWARD  DICKINSON  BAKER  was  born  in 
London,  England,  February  24,  1811. 
His  father  was  a  man  of  education  and 
literary  tastes,  and  brought  his  family  to 
America,  settling  in  Philadelphia,  when 
Edward  was  about  five  years  old.  The 
father  taught  school  and  apprenticed  the 
boy  at  a  suitable  age  to  a  weaver.  In 
1825  the  family  moved  to  Indiana,  and, 
a  year  or  so  later,  to  Illinois.  The  son 
had  no  taste  for  systematic  study,  but 
possessed  a  passion  for  books.  Going 
to  St.  Louis  in  early  manhood,  he  drove 
a  dray  for  one  season ;  then  returning  to 
Illinois,  he  began  the  study  of  law,  and, 
after  a  year  had  passed,  he  obtained  a 
license  and  began  practice.  In  1831,  he 
seriously  thought  of  entering  the  ministry 
of  the  Reformed  (or  Christian)  Church. 
9 


Introductory  Notice. 

In  the  spring  of  '32  he  enlisted  in  the 
Black  Hawk  (Indian)  War  and  served  to 
its  close,  obtaining  a  major's  commission. 
He  first  won  celebrity  as  a  speaker  by 
his  oration  at  the  laying  of  the  corner 
stone  of  the  old  State  House  in  Spring 
field,  111.,  July  4,  1837.  In  that  year  he 
was  elected  to  the  lower  branch  of  the 
State  Legislature,  as  a  Whig,  and  was 
re-elected.  In  1840,  he  "  took  the  stump  " 
for  Harrison  for  President;  was  a  State 
Senator,  1841-44.  In  the  fall  of  '44, 
he  was  elected  to  the  National  House  of 
Representatives  from  the  Springfield  dis 
trict.  When  the  Mexican  War  broke  out 
he,  without  resigning  his  seat  in  the 
House,  hastened  home,  obtained  a  col 
onel's  commission  and  raised  a  regiment, 
which  he  led  into  the  field.  He  was  one 
of  the  comparatively  few  Northern  Whigs 
who  favored  the  war  with  Mexico.  At 
10 


Introductory  Notice. 

its  close  his  State  presented  him  with 
a  sword.  In  '49  he  was  returned  to  Con 
gress.  In  1852  he  removed  to  Califor 
nia,  locating  in  San  Francisco.  Here  he 
won  great  fame  as  a  lawyer,  lecturer,  and 
political  speaker,  but  not  many  of  his 
speeches  are  preserved.  In  1859  he  ran 
for  Congress  on  the  Republican  ticket 
but  was  defeated.  Within  a  year  there 
after  he  had  removed  to  Oregon  and 
was  a  Senator  of  the  United  States.  The 
War  of  the  Rebellion  breaking  out,  he 
again  took  the  field  and  went  as  a 
colonel  into  this,  his  third,  warfare  with 
characteristic  enthusiasm.  In  July,  1861, 
he  was  appointed  and  confirmed  a  briga 
dier-general  of  volunteers.  At  his  first 
encounter  in  that  great  conflict  he  fell, 
in  his  fifty-first  year,  October  21,  1861. 
After  his  death  a  commission  as  major- 
general  of  volunteers  was  issued  in  his 
11 


Introductory  Notice. 

name.  His  remains  were  brought  to 
San  Francisco  and  laid  in  Lone  Moun 
tain  Cemetery,  among  the  people  who 
had  enjoyed  the  flower  of  his  renown. 
His  career  is  the  subject  of  the  first 
chapter  of  BENCH  AND  BAB  IN  CALIFOR 
NIA.  Edward  Stanly's  oration  at  his 
burial  may  be  found  in  REPRESENTATIVE 
MEN  OF  THE  PACIFIC,  together  with  the 
address  of  Thos.  Starr  King. 

Baker's  picturesque  career,  as  inter 
woven  with  great  events,  is  further 
touched  upon  in  appropriate  order  in 
the  pages  to  follow. 


12 


THE    ATLANTIC    CABLE 
ADDKESS 


The  most  poetic  utterance  of  Baker's  life  was  his 
address  delivered  in  San  Francisco  on  September  27, 1858, 
at  the  public  commemoration  of  the  laying  of  the  Atlantic 
Telegraph.  This  immortal  production  is  also,  in  the  judg 
ment  of  many,  both  more  thoughtful  and  more  ornate 
than  even  his  celebrated  Broderick  oration.  It  contains 
the  memorable  apostrophe  to  science,  and  the  happy 
allusion  to  the  comet  of  that  time.  It  is  perennial.  The 
words  near  the  clos-e,  "  We  stand  ...  at  the  entrance 
to  a  more  imperial  dominion,"  seem  to  express,  after  the 
lapse  of  forty  years,  a  new  and  larger  prophecy. 


THE  ATLANTIC  CABLE  ADDKESS. 

AMID  the  general  joy  that  thrills 
throughout  the  civilized  world,  we  are 
here  to  bear  our  part.  The  great  enter 
prise  of  the  age  has  been  accomplished. 
Thought  has  bridged  the  Atlantic,  and 
cleaves  its  unfettered  path  across  the  sea, 
winged  by  the  lightning  and  guarded 
by  the  billow.  Though  remote  from  the 
shores  that  first  witnessed  the  deed,  we 
feel  the  impulse  and  swell  the  paean ;  for, 
as  in  the  frame  of  man,  the  nervous  sensi 
bility  is  greatest  at  the  extremity  of  the 
body,  so  we,  distant  dwellers  on  the 
Pacific  coast,  feel  yet  more  keenly  than 
the  communities  at  the  centers  of  civili 
zation,  the  greatness  of  the  present  suc 
cess,  and  the  splendor  of  the  advancing 
future. 

The  transmission  of  intelligence  by 
electric  forces  is  perhaps  the  most  striking 

15 


Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

of  all  the  manifestations  of  human  power 
in  compelling  the  elements  to  the  service 
of  man.  The  history  of  the  discovery 
is  a  monument  to  the  sagacity,  the  prac 
tical  observation,  the  inductive  power  of 
the  men  whose  names  are  now  immortal. 
The  application  to  the  uses  of  mankind 
is  scarcely  less  wonderful,  and  the  late 
extension  across  a  vast  ocean  ranks  its 
projectors  and  accomplishers  with  the 
benefactors  of  their  race.  We  repeat 
here  to-day  the  names  of  Franklin,  and 
Morse,  and  Field.  We  echo  the  senti 
ments  of  generous  pride,  most  felt  in 
the  commonwealth  of  Massachusetts,  at 
the  associated  glory  of  her  sons.  But  we 
know  that  this  renown  will  spread  where- 
ever  their  deeds  shall  bless  their  kind ; 
that,  like  their  works,  it  will  extend  be 
yond  ocean  and  deserts,  and  remain  to 
latest  generations. 

The  history  of  the  Atlantic  Telegraph 
is  fortunately  familiar  to  most  of  this 
auditory.  For  more  than  a  hundred 

16 


The  Atlantic  Cable  Address. 

years  it  has  been  known  that  the  velocity 
of  electricity  was  nearly  instantaneous. 
It  was  found  that  the  electricity  of  the 
clouds  was  identical  with  that  produced 
by  electric  excitation ;  next  followed  the 
means  for  its  creation,  and  the  mech 
anism  of  transmission.  Its  concentration 
was  found  in  the  corrosion  of  metals 
in  acids,  and  the  use  of  the  voltaic  pile ; 
its  transmission  was  completed  by  Morse 
in  1843,  and  it  was  reserved  to  Field  to 
guide  it  across  the  Atlantic.  Here,  as 
in  all  other  scientific  results,  you  find 
the  wonder-working  power  of  observa 
tion  and  induction;  and  nowhere  in  the 
history  of  man  is  the  power  of  Art  — 
action  directed  by  Science  —  knowledge 
systematized  —  so  signally  and  beauti 
fully  obvious.  I  leave  to  the  gifted 
friend  who  will  follow  me,  in  his  pecu 
liar  department,  the  appropriate  descrip 
tion  of  the  wonders  of  the  deep  seaway; 
of  the  silent  shores  beneath;  of  sunless 
caverns  and  submarine  plains.  It  is  for 

17 


Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

others  to  describe  the  solitudes  of  the 
nether  deep.  Yet  who  is  there  whose 
imagination  does  not  kindle  at  the  idea 
that  every  thought  which  springs  along 
the  wires  vibrates  in  those  palaces  of 
the  ocean  where  the  light  fails  to  pene 
trate  and  the  billows  never  roll  ? 

From  those  dark,  unfathomed  caves  the 
pearl  that  heaves  upon  the  breast  of 
beauty  is  dragged  to  the  glare  of  day. 
There  the  unburied  dead  lie  waiting  for 
the  resurrection  morning,  while  above 
them  the  winds  wail  their  perpetual  re 
quiem  ;  there  the  lost  treasures  of  India 
and  Peru  are  forever  hid ;  there  the 
wrecks  of  the  Armada  and  Trafalgar 
are  forever  whelmed. 

What  flags  and  what  trophies  are    floating 

free 
In  the  shadowy  depths  of  the  silent  sea  ?  * 

But  amid  these  scattered  relics  of  the 
buried  past,  over  shell-formed  shores 

*A  quotation  from  his  own  poem  to  be  found  in  this 
volume. 

18 


The  Atlantic  Cable  Address. 

and  wave-worn  crags,  the  gleaming 
thought  darts  its  way.  Amid  the  mon 
sters  of  the  deep,  amid  the  sporting- 
myriads  and  countless  armies  of  the  sea, 
the  single  link  that  unites  two  worlds 
conveys  the  mandate  of  a  king  or  the 
message  of  a  lover.  Of  old,  the  Greek 
loved  to  believe  that  Neptune  ruled  the 
ocean  and  stretched  his  trident  over  the 
remotest  surge.  The  fiction  has  become 
reality;  but  man  is  the  monarch  of  the 
wave,  and  his  trident  is  a  single  wire ! 

The  scene  in  which  we  each  bear  a 
part  to-day  is  one  peculiar,  it  is  true, 
to  the  event  which  we  celebrate ;  but 
it  is  also  very  remarkable  in  many  and 
varied  aspects. 

Never  before  has  there  been  on  the 
Pacific  coast  such  an  expression  of  popu 
lar  delight.  We  celebrate  the  birthday  of 
our  nation  with  signal  rejoicing;  but  vast 
numbers  who  are  here  to-day  can  find 
no  place  in  its  processions,  and  perhaps 
wonder  at  its  enthusiasm ;  we  celebrate 


Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

great  victories  which  give  new  names  to 
our  history  and  new  stars  to  our  ban 
ner, —  these  are  but  national  triumphs; 
but  to-day  the  joy  is  universal;  the  pro 
cession  represents  the  world — all  creeds, 
all  races,  all  languages  are  here ;  every 
vocation  of  civilized  life  mingles  in  the 
shout  and  welcomes  the  deed.  The  min 
ister  of  religion  sees  the  Bow  of  Promise 
reflected  under  the  sea,  which  speaks  of 
universal  peace  ;  the  statesman  perceives 
another  lengthening  avenue  for  the  march 
of  free  principles;  the  magistrate  here 
can  see  new  guards  to  the  rights  of  so 
ciety  and  property,  and  a  wide  field  for 
the  sway  of  international  law ;  the  poet 
kindles  at  the  dream  of  a  great  republic 
of  letters  tending  toward  a  universal 
language ;  and  the  seer  of  science  finds 
a  pledge  that  individual  enterprise  may 
yet  embody  his  discoveries  in  beneficent 
and  world-wide  action. 

The  mechanic  walks  with  a  freer  step 
and  a  more  conscious  port,  for  it  is  his 

20 


The  Atlantic  Cable  Address. 

skill  which  has  overcome  the  raging  sea 
and  the  stormy  shore  ;  and  labor  —  toil- 
stained  and  sun-browned  labor  —  claims 
the  triumph  as  his  own  in  a  twofold  right. 
First,  because  without  patient,  enduring 
toil,  there  could  be  neither  discovery, 
invention,  application,  or  extension;  and 
again,  because  whatever  spreads  the  bless 
ings  of  peace  and  knowledge,  comes  home 
to  his  hearth  and  heart. 

Surrounded  then,  as  I  am,  by  the  rep 
resentatives  of  all  civilized  nations,  let 
me  express  some  of  the  thoughts  that  are 
struggling  for  utterance  upon  your  lips 
as  you  contemplate  the  great  event  of 
the  century.  Our  first  conviction  is  that 
the  resources  of  the  human  mind  and 
the  energies  of  the  human  will  are  illim 
itable  ;  from  the  time  when  the  new  phil 
osophy  of  which  Francis  Bacon  was  the 
great  exponent  became  firmly  written  in  a 
few  minds,  the  course  of  human  progress 
has  been  unfettered  —  each  established 
fact,  each  new  discovery,  each  complete 

21 


Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

induction  is  a  new  weapon  from  the  armory 
of  truth ;  the  march  cannot  retrogade  ;  the 
human  mind  will  never  go  back;  the 
question  as  to  the  return  of  barbarism 
is  forever  at  rest.  If  England  were  to 
sink  beneath  the  ocean,  she  hath  planted 
the  germ  of  her  thought  in  many  a  fair 
land  beside,  and  the  tree  will  shadow  the 
whole  earth.  If  the  whole  population 
of  America  were  to  die  in  a  day,  a  new 
migration  would  repeople  it ;  not  with  liv 
ing  forms  alone,  but  with  living  thought, 
bright  streams  from  the  fountains  of  all 
nations. 

O  Science,  thou  thought-clad  leader 
of  the  company  of  pure  and  great  souls, 
that  toil  for  their  race  and  love  their 
kinds!  measurer  of  the  depths  of  earth 
and  the  recesses  of  heaven!  apostle  of 
civilization,  handmaid  of  religion,  teacher 
of  human  equality  and  human  right,  per 
petual  witness  for  the  Divine  wisdom  — 
be  ever,  as  now,  the  great  minister  of 
peace  !  Let  thy  starry  brow  and  benign 

22 


The  Atlantic  Cable  Address. 

front  still  gleam  in  the  van  of  progress, 
brighter  than  the  sword  of  the  conqueror, 
and  welcome  as  the  light  of  heaven ! 

The  commercial  benefits  to  accrue  to 
all  nations  from  instantaneous  communi 
cation  are  too  apparent  to  permit  much 
remark ;  the  convenience  of  the  merchant, 
the  correspondence  of  demand  and  sup 
ply,  the  quick  return  of  values,  the  more 
immediate  apprehension  of  the  condition 
of  the  world,  are  among  the  direct  results 
most  obvious  to  all  men ;  but  these  are  at 
last  mere  agencies  for  a  superior  good, 
and  are  but  heralds  of  the  great  ameliora 
tions  to  follow  in  the  stately  march. 

The  great  enemy  of  commerce,  and 
indeed  of  the  human  race,  is  war.  Some 
times  ennobling  to  individuals  and  na 
tions,  it  is  more  frequently  the  offspring 
of  a  narrow  nationality,  and  inveterate 
prejudice.  If  it  enlists  in  its  service 
some  of  the  noblest  qualities  of  the  hu 
man  heart,  it  too  often  perverts  them  to 
the  service  of  a  despot. 

23 


Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

From  the  earliest  ages  a  chain  of  moun 
tains,  or  a  line  of  a  river,  made  men 
strangers,  if  not  enemies.  Whatever, 
therefore,  opens  communication  and  cre 
ates  interchange  of  ideas,  counteracts  the 
sanguinary  tendencies  of  mankind,  and 
does  its  part  to  "  beat  the  sword  into  the 
plowshare." 

We  hail,  as  we  trust,  in  the  event  we 
commemorate,  a  happier  era  in  the  his 
tory  of  the  world,  and  read  in  the  omens 
attendant  on  its  completion  an  augury  of 
perpetual  peace. 

The  spectacle  which  marked  the  mo 
ment  when  the  cable  was  first  dropped 
in  the  deep  sea,  was  one  of  absorbing 
interest.  Two  stately  ships  of  different 
and  once  hostile  nations,  bore  the  pre 
cious  freight.  Meeting  in  mid-ocean  they 
exchanged  the  courtesies  of  their  gallant 
profession  —  each  bore  the  flag  of  St. 
George,  each  carried  the  flowing  Stripes 
and  blazing  Stars  —  on  each  deck  that 
martial  band  bowed  reverently  in  prayer 

24 


The  Atlantic  Cable  Address. 

to  the  Great  Ruler  of  the  tempest:  exact 
iu  order,  perfect  in  discipline,  they  waited 
the  auspicious  moment  to  seek  the  distant 
shore.  Well  were  those  noble  vessels 
named, —  the  one,  Niagara,  with  a  force 
resistless  as  our  own  cataract ;  the  other, 
Agamemnon,  "the  king  of  men,"  as  con 
stant  in  purpose,  as  resolute  in  trial,  as 
the  great  leader  of  the  Trojan  war.  Eight 
well,  O  gallant  crews,  have  you  fulfilled 
your  trust !  Favoring  were  the  gales  and 
smooth  the  seas  that  bore  you  to  the 
land ;  and  oh !  if  the  wish  and  prayer  of 
the  good  and  wise  of  all  the  earth  may 
avail,  your  high  and  peaceful  mission 
shall  remain  forever  perfect,  and  those 
triumphant  standards  so  long  shadowing 
the  earth  with  their  glory,  shall  wave  in 
united  folds  as  long  as  the  Homeric  story 
shall  be  remembered  among  men, —  or 
the  thunders  of  Niagara  reverberate  above 
its  arch  of  spray. 

It  is  impossible,  fellow-citizens,  within 
such  limits  as  the  nature  of  this  assem- 

25 


Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

blage  indicates,  to  portray  the  various 
modes  in  which  the  whole  human  race 
are  to  be  impelled  on  the  march  of  pro 
gress  by  the  telegraphic  union  of  the  two 
nations;  but  I  cannot  forget  where  I 
stand,  nor  the  audience  I  address.  The 
Atlantic  telegraph  is  but  one  link  in  a 
line  of  thought  which  is  to  bind  the 
world :  the  next  link  is  to  unite  the 
Atlantic  and  Pacific.  Who  doubts  that 
this  union  is  near  at  hand  ?  *  Have  we 
no  other  Fields  ?  Shall  the  skill  which 
sounded  the  Atlantic  not  scale  the  Sierra 
Nevada  ?  Is  the  rolling  plain  more  dan 
gerous  than  the  rolling  deep  ?  Shall 
science  repose  upon  its  laurels,  or  achieve 
ment  faint  by  the  Atlantic  shore  ?  Let 
us  do  our  part;  let  our  energy  awake! 
Let  us  be  the  men  we  were  when  we 
planted  an  empire.  We  are  in  the  high 
way  of  commerce ;  let  us  widen  the  track 
—  one  effort  more,  and  science  will  span 

*  When  this  union  was  effected,  three  years  later,  the 
second  message  sent  over  the  wire  was  the  announcement 
of  Baker's  fall  in  battle. 

26 


The  Atlantic  Cable  Address. 

the  world.  While  I  speak,  there  comes 
to  us,  borne  on  every  blast  from  the  East 
and  from  the  West,  high  tidings  of  civili 
zation,  toleration,  and  freedom.  In  En 
gland  the  Jews  are  restored  to  all  the 
privileges  of  citizens,  and  the  last  step 
in  the  path  of  religious  toleration  is 
taken.  The  Emperor  of  Eussia  has  de 
creed  the  emancipation  of  his  serfs,  and 
the  first  movement  for  civil  liberty  is 
begun.  China  opens  her  ports,  and 
commerce  and  Christianity  will  penetrate 
the  East.  Japan  sends  her  embassador 
to  America,  and  America  will  return  the 
blessings  of  civilization  to  Japan.  O 
human  heart  and  human  hope !  never 
before  in  all  your  history  did  ye  so  rise 
to  the  inspiration  of  a  prophet  in  the 
majesty  of  your  prediction ! 

Fellow-citizens,  we  have  a  just  and 
generous  pride  in  the  great  achievement 
we  here  commemorate.  We  rejoice  in 
the  manly  energy,  the  indomitable  will, 
that  pushed  it  forward  to  success;  we 

27 


Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

admire  the  skillful  adaptation  and  appli 
cation  of  the  forces  of  nature  to  the  uses 
of  mankind;  we  reverence  the  great 
thinkers  whose  observation  swept  through 
the  universe  of  facts  and  events,  and  whose 
patient  wisdom  traced  and  evolved  the 
general  law.  Yet,  more  than  this,  we 
turn  with  wonder  and  delight,  to  behold 
on  every  hand  the  results  of  scientific 
method  everywhere  visible  and  every 
where  increasing ;  but  amid  that  wonder 
and  delight  we  turn  to  a  still  greater 
wonder  —  the  human  mind  itself!  Who 
shall  now  stay  its  progress  ?  What  shall 
impede  its  career  ?  No  longer  trammeled 
by  theories  nor  oppressed  by  the  despo 
tism  of  authority  —  grasping,  at  the  very 
vestibule,  the  key  to  knowledge,  its  ad 
vance,  though  gradual,  is  but  the  more 
sure.  It  is  engaged  in  a  perpetual  war 
fare,  but  its  empire  is  perpetually  enlar 
ging.  No  fact  is  forgotten,  no  truth  is  lost, 
no  induction  falls  to  the  ground ;  it  is  as 
industrious  as  the  sun ;  it  is  as  restless 

28 


The  Atlantic  Cable  Address. 

as  the  sea ;  it  is  as  universal  as  the  race 
itself;  it  is  boundless  in  its  ambition, 
and  irrepressible  in  its  hope.  And  yet, 
in  the  very  midst  of  the  great  works  that 
mark  its  progress,  while  we  behold  on 
every  hand  the  barriers  of  darkness  and 
ignorance  overthrown,  and  perceive  the 
circle  of  knowledge  continually  widening, 
we  must  forever  remember  that  man,  in 
all  his  pride  of  scientific  research,  and 
all  his  power  of  elemental  conquest,  can 
but  follow  at  an  infinite  distance  the 
methods  of  the  Great  Designer  of  the 
Universe.  His  research  is  but  the  attempt 
to  learn  what  nature  has  done  or  may  do ; 
his  plans  are  but  an  imperfect  copy  of  a 
half-seen  original.  He  strives,  and  some 
times  with  success,  to  penetrate  into  the 
workshop  of  nature ;  but  whether  he  use 
the  sunbeam,  or  steam,  or  electricity— 
whether  he  discover  a  continent  or  a 
star  —  whether  he  decompose  light  or 
water  —  whether  he  fathom  the  depths 
of  the  ocean  or  the  depths  of  the  human 

29 


Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

heart  —  in  each  and  all  he  is  but  an  imita 
tion  of  the  Great  Architect  and  Creator  of 
all  things.  We  have  accomplished  a  great 
work ;  we  have  diminished  space  to  a 
point ;  we  have  traversed  one  twelfth  of 
the  circumference  of  our  globe  with  a 
chain  of  thought  pulsating  with  intelli 
gence,  and  almost  spiritualizing  matter. 

But,  even  while  we  assemble  to  mark 
the  deed  and  rejoice  at  its  completion, 
the  Almighty,  as  if  to  impress  us  with  a 
becoming  sense  of  our  weakness  as  com 
pared  with  his  power,  has  set  a  new 
signal  of  his  reign  in  heaven  !  If  to-night, 
fellow-citizens,  you  will  look  out  from 
the  glare  of  your  illuminated  city  into 
the  northwestern  heavens,  you  will  per 
ceive,  low  down  on  the  edge  of  the 
horizon,  a  bright  stranger,  pursuing  its 
path  across  the  sky.  Amid  the  starry 
hosts  that  keep  their  watch,  it  shines 
attended  by  a  brighter  pomp  and  followed 
by  a  broader  train.  No  living  man  has 
gazed  upon  its  splendors  before ;  no 

30 


The  Atlantic  Cable  Address. 

watchful  votary  of  science  has  traced  its 
course  for  nearly  ten  generations.  It  is 
more  than  three  hundred  years  since  its 
approach  was  visible  from  our  planet. 
When  last  it  came,  it  startled  an  emperor 
on  his  throne,  and  while  the  supersti 
tion  of  the  age  taught  him  to  perceive  in, 
its  presence  a  herald  and  a  doom,  his 
pride  saw  in  its  naming  course  and  fiery 
train  the  announcement  that  his  own  light 
was  about  to  be  extinguished.  In  com 
mon  with  the  lowest  of  his  subjects,  he 
read  omens  of  destruction  in  the  baleful 
heavens,  and  prepared  himself  for  a  fate 
which  alike  awaits  the  mightiest  and  the 
meanest.  Thanks  to  the  present  condi 
tion  of  scientific  knowledge,  we  read  the 
heavens  with  a  far  clearer  perception.  We 
see  in  the  predicted  return  of  the  rush 
ing,  blazing  comet  through  the  sky,  the 
march  of  a  heavenly  messenger  along  his 
appointed  way  and  around  his  predes 
tined  orbit.  For  three  hundred  years 
he  has  traveled  amid  the  regions  of 

31 


Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

infinite  space.  "Lone  wandering,  but 
not  lost,"  he  has  left  behind  him  shining 
suns,  blazing  stars,  and  gleaming  constel 
lations,  now  nearer  to  the  Eternal  Throne, 
and  again  on  the  confines  of  the  universe. 
He  returns,  with  visage  radiant  and  be 
nign  ;  he  returns,  with  unimpeded  march 
and  unobstructed  way;  he  returns,  the 
majestic,  swift  electric  telegraph  of  the 
Almighty,  bearing  upon  his  flaming  front 
the  tidings  that  throughout  the  universe 
there  is  still  peace  and  order — that, 
amid  the  immeasurable  dominions  of  the 
Great  King,  his  rule  is  still  perfect — 
that  suns  and  stars  and  systems  tread  their 
endless  circle  and  obey  the  Eternal  Law. 
When  Pericles,  the  greatest  of  Athenian 
statesmen,  stood  in  the  suburb  of  the 
Kerameikos  to  deliver  the  funeral  ora 
tion  of  the  soldiers  who  had  fallen  in  the 
expedition  to  Samos,  he  seized  the  occa 
sion  to  describe,  with  great  but  pardon 
able  pride,  the  grandeur  of  Athens.  It 
was  the  first  year  of  the  Peloponnesian 

32 


The  Atlantic  Cable  Address. 

war,  and  he  spoke  amid  the  trophies  of 
the  Persian  conquest  and  the  creations 
of  the  Greek  genius.  In  that  immortal 
oration  he  depicted  in  glowing  colors  the 
true  sources  of  national  greatness,  and 
enumerated  the  titles  by  which  Athens 
claimed  to  be  first  city  of  the  world.  He 
spoke  of  constitutional  guarantees,  of 
democratic  principles,  of  the  supremacy 
of  law,  of  the  freedom  of  the  social 
march.  He  spoke  of  the  elegance  of  pri 
vate  life  —  of  the  bounteousness  of  com 
forts  and  luxuries  —  of  a  system  of 
education  —  of  their  encouragement  to 
strangers  —  of  their  cultivated  taste  —  of 
their  love  of  the  beautiful  —  of  their 
rapid  interchange  of  ideas ;  but  above 
all,  he  dwelt  upon  the  courage  of  her 
citizens,  animated  by  reflections  that  her 
greatness  was  achieved  "by  men  of  dar 
ing,  full  of  a  sense  of  honorable  shame 
in  all  their  actions." 

Fellow  -  citizens,     in    most    of     these 
respects  we  may  adopt  the  description ; 

33 


Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

but  if  in  taste,  in  manners,  if  in  temples 
and  statues,  if  in  love  and  appreciation 
of  art,  we  fall  below  the  genius  of  Athens, 
in  how  many  respects  is  it  our  fortune 
to  be  superior!  We  have  a  revealed 
religion;  we  have  a  perfect  system  of 
morality;  we  have  a  literature,  based,  it 
is  true,  on  their  models,  but  extending 
into  realms  of  which  they  never  dreamed ; 
we  have  a  vast  and  fertile  territory  within 
our  own  dominion,  and  science  brings  the 
whole  world  within  our  reach ;  we  have 
founded  an  empire  in  a  wilderness,  and 
poured  fabulous  treasures  into  the  lap  of 
commerce. 

But,  amid  all  these  wonders,  it  is 
obvious  that  we  stand  upon  the  threshold 
of  new  discoveries,  and  at  the  entrance 
to  a  more  imperial  dominion.  The  his 
tory  of  the  last  three  hundred  years  has 
been  a  history  of  successive  advances, 
each  more  wonderful  than  the  last. 

There  is  no  reason  to  believe  that  the 
procession  will  be  stayed,  or  the  music 

34 


The  Atlantic  Cable  Address. 

of  its  march  be  hushed ;  on  the  contrary, 
the  world  is  radiant  with  hope,  and  all 
the  signs  in  earth  and  heaven  are  full  of 
promise  to  the  race.  Happy  are  we  to 
whom  it  is  given  to  share  and  spread 
these  blessings;  happier  yet  if  we  shall 
transmit  the  great  trust  committed  to  our 
care  undimmed  and  unbroken  to  succeed 
ing  generations. 

I  have  spoken  of  three  hundred  years 
past — dare  I  imagine  three  hundred 
years  to  come?  It  is  a  period  very  far 
beyond  the  life  of  the  individual  man; 
it  is  but  a  span  in  the  history  of  a  nation, 
throughout  the  changing  generations  of 
mental  life.  The  men  grow  old  and  die, 
the  community  remains,  the  nation  sur 
vives.  As  we  transmit  our  institutions, 
so  we  shall  transmit  our  blood  and  our 
names  to  future  ages  and  populations. 
What  multitudes  shall  throng  these 
shores,  what  cities  shall  gem  the  bor 
ders  of  the  sea!  Here  all  people  and 
all  tongues  shall  meet.  Here  shall  be  a 

35 


Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

more  perfect  civilization,  a  more  thorough 
intellectual  development,  a  firmer  faith,  a 
more  reverent  worship. 

Perhaps,  as  we  look  back  to  the 
struggle  of  an  earlier  age,  and  mark 
the  steps  of  our  ancestors  in  the  career 
we  have  traced,  so  some  thoughtful  man 
of  letters  in  ages  yet  to  come,  may  bring 
to  light  the  history  of  this  shore  or  of 
this  day.  I  am  sure,  fellow-citizens,  that 
whoever  shall  hereafter  read  it,  will  per 
ceive  that  our  pride  and  joy  are  dimmed 
by  no  stain  of  selfishness.  Our  pride  is 
for  humanity;  our  joy  is  for  the  world; 
and  amid  all  the  wonders  of  past 
achievement  and  all  the  splendors  of 
present  success,  we  turn  with  swelling 
hearts  to  gaze  into  the  boundless  future, 
with  the  earnest  conviction  that  it  will 
develop  a  universal  brotherhood  of  man. 


THE    FEKGUSON    EULOGY 


WILLIAM  I.  FERGUSON,  a  carpenter's  son,  born  in  Penn 
sylvania,  grew  up  in  Illinois,  receiving  a  common-school 
education,  clerking  in  a  store,  then  becoming  a  lawyer. 
He  was  several  times  city  attorney  of  Springfield,  and  in 
1848,  when  he  was  only  twenty-three,  his  name  was  on 
the  Democratic  electoral  ticket.  He  came  to  be  the  first 
criminal  lawyer  at  the  Sangamon  bar.  He  removed  to 
California  in  the  summer  of  1853,  locating  in  Sacramento, 
and  in  '55  was  elected  as  a  Know-nothing  to  the  State 
Senate,  and  was  made  chairman  of  the  Judiciary  Commit 
tee.  In.  '57  he  was  re-elected  Senator,  this  time  as  a  Demo 
crat.  The  Democratic  party  was  then  dividing  on  the 
slavery  question,  and  Ferguson  became  conspicuous  as 
the  most  fervid  orator  of  the  Northern,  or  Douglas,  wing. 
The  Legislature  then  met  annually.  In  August,  1858, 
between  two  sessions,  Ferguson,  on  a  visit  to  San  Francisco, 
had  a  personal  dispute,  influenced  by  partisan  feeling, 
with  Geo.  Pen  Johnston,  attorney-at-law,  United  States 
Commissioner,  Clerk  of  the  U.  S.  Circuit  Court,  and  who 
later  became  part  owner  of  the  Examiner  newspaper. 
Ferguson  accepted  a  challenge  to  a  duel,  and  the  parties 
met  on  Angel  Island,  on  August  21st.  At  the  fourth  fire 
Ferguson  was  shot  in  the  leg  just  below  the  thigh.  He 
held  out  against  amputation,  but  three  weeks  afterward 
this  was  resorted  to.  His  life  ended  under  the  ordeal.  A 
pathetic  story  of  the  closing  scene  is  presented  in  the  old 
chronicles.  It  shows  the  nobility  of  the  man  whose 
doom  moved  Baker  to  words  so  apt  and  fond. 

Before  the  commencement  of  the  final  preparation, 
Ferguson  prepared  himself  for  death.  He  then,  for  the 
first  time,  stated  that  he  believed  the  wound  had  extended 
to  his  hip  joint,  as  that  had  of  late  been  the  source  of 
great  pain.  He  had  little  or  no  doubt  that  amputation 
would  be  necessary,  and  he  did  not  expect  to  survive 
it.  Indeed,  he  went  so  far  as  to  say  that  life  was  not 
desirable  under  such  circumstances.  His  language  was 

39 


Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

sensible  and  cheerful,  yet  his  tone  was  feeble  and  melan 
choly.  He  conversed  freely  of  the  difficulty  that  brought 
about  the  meeting  between  him  and  his  antagonist,  which 
he  insisted  was  misunderstood.  He  did  not  doubt  that 
Johnston  was  honest  in  that  misunderstanding,  and 
believed  that  he  (Ferguson)  had  really  made  the  remark 
attributed  to  him.  Yet  Ferguson  contended  that  he  (Fer 
guson)  was  the  proper  judge,  and  that  his  adversary  was 
mistaken.  On  this  assertion,  he  exhibited  much  earnest 
ness,  and  repeated  the  remark  again  and  again.  He 
spoke  of  the  meeting  between  them  on  the  field,  after  he 
had  been  wounded,  and  regretted  that  an  improper  inter 
pretation  had  been  given  to  Johnston's  remarks.  He 
said  they  had  been  spoken  kindly  and  feelingly,  and 
were  well  intended,  and  he  hoped  no  friend  of  his  would 
say  to  the  contrary.  He  also  stated  that  the  whole  affair 
was  conducted  honorably  and  fairly;  and  above  all,  he 
desired  that  no  prosecution  of  Johnston  should  be  toler 
ated  by  his  friends.  He  said  in  this  connection, "  I  freely 
forgive  him,  and  hope  he  may  continue  to  be  a  useful 
and  honorable  member  of  society ;  then,  why  should  others, 
whom  he  never  injured,  refuse  to  do  so  ?"  He  spoke  of  his 
mother;  but  no  language  can  convey  the  eloquence  of  his 
trembling  lips,  his  silvery  accents,  as  he  called  the  name 
of  her  who  gave  the  life  now  just  entering  eternity.  He 
expressed  the  wish  to  be  buried  in  Sacramento,  as  he  felt 
that  place  to  be  his  home  — yet  he  would  leave  that  mat 
ter  to  his  friends.  At  this  period  he  desired  to  be  alone. 
A  few  moments  thereafter  his  faithful  servant  "John" 
came  from  his  room  bathed  in  tears.  "  He  has  said  his 
last  prayer  on  earth."  When  his  friends  again  entered, 
he  said,  "  I  am  ready."  The  chloroform  was  applied,  and 
he  never  spoke  more. 

Ferguson  had  said,  a  day  or  two  before,  to  those  watch 
ing  at  his  bedside:  "My  friend  Baker  has  known  me 
best;  ask  him,  if  he  will,  to  speak  of  me  when  I  am  dead." 
The  orator's  eulogy  was  delivered  in  the  Senate  chamber 
at  Sacramento,  where  the  body  was  lying  in  state,  Septem 
ber  16, 1858. 

40 


THE  FEKGUSON  EULOGY. 

THE  intense  interest  which  is  apparent 
in  this  crowded  auditory  too  well  evinces 
the  mournful  character  of  the  ceremony 
we  are  about  to  perform.  Wherever 
death  may  invade  the  precincts  of  life, 
whether  in  the  loftiest  or  lowliest  home, 
there  is  a  tear  for  all  who  fall ;  there  is  a 
mourner  for  even  the  meanest  and  the 
most  humble  ;  but  when  beyond  the  deep 
impression  which  the  change  from  life  to 
death  produces  in  all  good  minds — when 
beyond  this  we  know  that  an  eminent 
citizen  is  stricken  down  in  the  full  vigor 
of  his  manhood  and  in  the  pride  of  his 
intellectual  power,  the  impression  is 
deeply  mournful.  And  when  to  this  we 
add  that  those  who  loved  him  in  life, 
whose  servant  and  representative  he  was, 
have  gathered  around  his  bier  to-day  to 
accompany  him  to  his  last  resting-place 

41 


Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

on  earth,  the  impression  is  not  merely 
mournful,  but  painful.  And  when  we 
add  to  this  that  the  man  we  mourn  died 
by  the  hand  of  violence — suddenly — in 
a  peaceful  land,  away  from  his  own 
friends,  the  painful  impression  becomes 
an  overwhelming  sorrow. 

At  the  personal  request  of  our  departed 
friend,  it  has  been  assigned  to  me  to  say 
a  few  words  upon  this  occasion. 

I  have  perhaps  known  him  longer  than 
anybody  here.  I  have  known  him,  more 
particularly  in  his  early  youth,  perhaps 
better  than  any  one  here  assembled.  I 
have  watched  the  bud,  the  blow,  the  fruit, 
and  lastly  the  untimely  decay;  and  while 
I  desire  to  speak  of  him  as  he  himself 
would  wish  to  be  spoken  of ;  while  I  do 
not  mean  that  personal  friendship  shall 
warp  my  judgment  or  lead  me  to  say  as 
his  friend  anything  unduly  in  his  praise, 
so  also,  on  the  other  hand,  shall  I  say 
nothing  against  him  or  others  that  is 
unjust  or  unkind. 

42 


The  Ferguson  Eulogy. 

The  gentleman  whose  remains  you  are 
about  to  consign  to  his  last  resting-place 
until  the  trump  of  the  Archangel  shall 
sound,  was  a  native  of  the  State  of  Penn 
sylvania.  I  knew  his  father  well;  a 
respectable,  worthy,  honest  man;  a  me 
chanic  by  pursuit,  intelligent,  self-reliant, 
and  in  every  respect  honorable. 

The  young  man  was  ambitious  from 
his  boyhood.  He  sought  the  profession 
of  the  law,  not  merely  for  itself,  but  as 
an  opening  that  would  lead  to  what  he 
considered  were  higher  and  more  noble 
positions. 

He  was  fitted  for  the  study  of  law  by 
nature.  He  was  then  what  you  knew  him 
but  lately — bold,  self-reliant,  earnest, 
brilliant,  eloquent,  a  good  judge  of 
human  nature,  kind,  generous,  making 
friends  everywhere,  placable  in  his  resent 
ments,  easily  appeased,  and  a  true  friend. 
He  read  law  not  only  with  me,  but  also 
with  far  more  able  men,  and  he  formed 
his  judgment  of  public  affairs  while 

43 


Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  B^ker. 

honored  with  the  friendship  of  Douglas, 
his  opponent,  Lincoln,  John  J.  Hardin, 
who  won  a  deathless  name  at  Buena  Vista, 
Judge  Logan,  and  many  others  who  are 
the  pride  and  boast  of  the  Mississippi  Val 
ley.  He  was  early  distinguished  in  his 
own  State.  He  was  very  young,  and  he 
had  those  contests  among  his  own  friends 
which  are  peculiar  to  politics ;  and  there 
had  the  reverses  and  crosses  without 
which  no  man  is  worth  much.  The 
success  which  he  achieved  here  had  its 
foundation  laid  in  defeat,  and  I  think  I 
may  say  that  most  of  what  he  knew  as  a 
politician  he  had  learned  in  the  school 
of  adversity — 

"That  stern  teacher  of  the  human  breast." 

It  is  not  good  for  a  man  to  be  always 
successful,  either  in  private  or  public 
life.  No  man's  character  can  be  formed 
without  trial  and  suffering,  and  our  de 
parted  friend  showed  by  his  course  of 
conduct  that  he  could  endure  temporary 


The  Ferguson  Eulogy. 

defeat,  confident  of  the  ultimate  success 
of  the  right —  perhaps  not  the  less  confi 
dent  of  his  power  to  achieve  success.  He 
was  a  successful  candidate  upon  the  Dem 
ocratic  ticket  for  presidential  elector  in 
1848.  He  was  as  renowned  in  his  own 
State,  as  a  debater,  as  he  was  here ;  he 
had  (and  that  is  saying  a  great  deal)  as 
many  friends  there  as  he  had  here ;  he 
deserved  them  there,  as  he  deserved  them 
here,  by  his  fidelity  to  his  friends,  high 
personal  qualities,  courage,  intellect,  bril 
liancy — by  those  qualities  which  rendered 
him  so  dear  to  many  of  you  now  before 
me. 

He  came  here,  and  what  he  was  here 
you  know  better  than  I.  You  knew  him 
well,  for  he  served  you.  You  knew  him 
well,  for  he  ever  strove  for  your  appro 
bation,  and  loved  you  living,  and  loved 
you  dying.  He  had  a  great  many  quali 
ties  that  make  a  successful  politician,  not 
merely  in  the  personal  sense  of  the  word, 
but  in  a  higher  sense,  the  achievement  of 

45 


Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

great  deeds,  and  the  advancement  of  great 
principles. 

These  halls  have  been  the  witnesses 
of  many  of  his  triumphs.  As  was  well 
remarked  by  a  contemporary  newspaper, 
he  hardly  ever  undertook  that  which, 
when  he  set  himself  earnestly  to  work, 
he  did  not  accomplish.  He  had  the  de 
termination  to  succeed — that  knowledge 
of  mankind — that  control  over  other 
men's  minds — that  kindly  manner,  those 
generous  impulses  for  all — that  love  for 
humanity — those  qualities  of  mind  which, 
if  they  called  forth  grave  defects,  also 
called  forth  great  virtues.  And  these 
are  in  most  of  the  departments  of  life 
the  great  elements  of  success.  Mere 
intellect,  except  in  the  closet,  does  but 
little;  the  qualities  of  mind,  of  mere 
abstract  wisdom,  which  distinguished  a 
Newton  or  a  La  Place,  would  do  but  little 
at  Washington.  It  is  the  same  both  in 
private  and  public  life.  A  knowledge 
of  the  human  heart;  a  readiness  of  re- 

46 


The  Ferguson  Eulogy. 

sources;  kindness  of  heart;  fidelity  in 
friendship — will  effect  more  than  mere 
abstract  wisdom,  and  must  be  combined 
with  it  in  order  to  render  that  wisdom  of 
avail.  These,  and  all  these,  our  friend 
had. 

You  know  how  well  he  served  you; 
and  those  who  knew  him  best,  knew  how 
ardently  he  desired  your  approbation, 
how  earnestly  he  strove  to  win  it. 

There  is  more  than  one  thing  in  his 
legislative  career  which  deserves  notice, 
and  not  the  least  is  the  manner  of  his 
death.  He  died  poor — not  poor  in  the 
common  sense  of  the  term,  but  poor  as 
was  Aristides  when  he  was  buried  at 
the  expense  of  the  citizens  of  Athens. 
Amongst  all  his  papers,  there  is  not 
found  the  trace  of  a  speculation.  He 
had  no  property — no  resources ;  his  pov 
erty,  if  remarkable,  was  honorable.  In 
a  land  where  corruption  is  said  to  be  rife, 
the  more  especially  in  legislative  bodies, 
and  which,  whether  the  charge  is  true  or 
47 


Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

false,  is  proverbially  liable  to  corrupting 
influences,  it  seems  impossible  that  lie 
used  the  vast  power  he  possessed  for 
aught  except  the  public  interest  and  wel 
fare.  And  this  alone  would  be  a  proud 
epitaph  to  record  upon  his  tombstone. 
He  was  a  man  of  undoubted  courage, 
as  his  death  proved.  I  am  not  here  to 
speak  of  its  manner.  I  am  not  here  to 
discuss  the  subject  of  dueling.  If  I 
were,  it  would  be  to  utter  my  unquali 
fied  condemnation  of  the  code  which 
offers  to  personal  vindictiveness  a  life 
due  only  to  a  country,  a  family,  and  to 
God.  If  I  were,  under  any  circum 
stances,  an  advocate  for  a  duel,  it  should 
be  at  least  a  fair,  equal,  and  honorable 
duel.  If,  as  was  said  by  an  eloquent 
advocate  in  its  favor,  "it  was  the  light 
of  past  ages  which  shed  its  radiance  upon 
the  hill-tops  of  civilization,  although  its 
light  might  be  lost  in  the  dark  shade  of 
the  valleys  below";  if  even  I  held  this 
view,  I  should  still  maintain  that  a  duel 

48 


The  Ferguson  Eulogy. 

should  be  fair  and  equal ;  that  skill 
should  not  be  matched  against  igno 
rance,  practical  training  against  its  ab 
sence.  And  while  I  am  in  no  sense  to 
be  understood  as  expressing  an  opinion 
as  to  the  late  duel,  knowing  nothing  of 
the  matter  myself,  yet  I  do  say  that  no 
duel  should  stand  the  test  of  public 
opinion,  independent  of  the  law,  except 
the  great  element  of  equality  is  there. 
In  the  pursuits  of  common  life,  no  one 
not  trained  to  a  profession  is  supposed 
to  be  a  match  for  a  professional  man  in 
the  duties  of  his  profession.  I  am  no 
match  for  a  physician  in  any  matters  con 
nected  with  his  pursuits,  nor  would  the 
physician  be  a  match  for  me  in  a  legal 
argument.  The  soldier  is  no  fair  match 
for  the  civilian,  when  the  latter  has  not 
been  trained  to  the  use  of  arms;  nor, 
although  his  courage  is  equal,  and  he 
may  have  a  profound  conviction  that  he 
is  right,  will,  therefore,  the  contest  be 
rendered  equal  and  just.  I  repeat  that 

49 


Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

I  do  not  make  these  remarks  intending 
thereby  to  reflect  upon  the  character  of 
the  late  duel.  Personally,  I  know  noth 
ing  more  than  what  I  and  you  all  have 
heard.  Whether  it  was  fair  or  unfair,  it 
is  not  my  province  to  inquire.  I  am  de 
nouncing  the  system  itself,  for  it  loses 
annually  hundreds  of  valuable  lives,  and 
in  the  present  state  of  civilization,  it 
does  no  good,  profits  nothing,  arrests  no 
evil,  but  impels  a  thousand  evils;  but 
above  all,  do  I  protest  against  any  con 
tests  of  this  nature  where,  in  skill, 
knowledge  of  weapons,  or  from  any 
cause,  the  parties  are  not  equals  in  all 
the  conditions  of  that  stern  debate.  The 
friend  whose  loss  we  deplore  was  un 
doubtedly  a  man  of  courage.  Whatever 
may  be  said  with  respect  to  the  code  of 
dueling — whatever  may.be  said  as  to 
his  motives — his  conduct  on  the  field 
was  in  all  respects  what  his  friends 
expected.  He  stood  four  fires,  at  a  dis 
tance  of  scarcely  twenty  feet,  with  a 

50 


The  Ferguson  Eulogy. 

conviction  that  there  was  a  strong  de 
termination  to  take  his  life — that  the 
matter  should  be  carried  to  an  extremity 
— and  that,  too,  when,  until  the  day  be 
fore,  he  had  never  fired  a  pistol  off  in 
his  life.  But  courage  is  shown  not 
merely  in  action,  but  in  endurance.  A 
woman  may  show  the  higher  quality  of 
courage  in  many  instances  where  many 
men  would  fail.  A  brave  man — a  really 
brave  man — shows  his  courage  no  less 
in  endurance  than  in  action.  It  is  a 
higher,  a  greater  quality  to  suffer  than 
to  do ;  and  in  this  respect  our  friend  was 
no  way  defective.  He  bore  a  long  and 
painful  confinement — he  bore  a  severe 
operation — he  saw  his  hold  upon  life 
unclasping  day  by  day,  hour  by  hour; 
and  amidst  it  all,  neither  his  resolution 
nor  his  cheerfulness  faltered  for  an  in 
stant.  When  he  lay  helpless,  looking 
back  upon  the  errors  (and  who  has  not 
errors?)  of  his  life,  he  seemed  to  recall 
them  for  lessons  of  instruction  and  warn- 

51 


Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

ing  for  the  future ;  and  when  he  knew  he 
must  die,  he  arrayed  himself  for  the  last 
contest,  to  die  as  became  a  man,  amid  all 
sweet  and  pious  and  holy  recollections. 
He  died  with  no  vindictive  passion  in  his 
heart.  He  died  with  words  of  affection 
upon  his  lips.  He  died  with  the  thoughts 
of  his  mother  present  to  his  soul.  He 
left  this  world  with  the  thoughts  of 
home  and  mother.  He  left  with  words 
of  forgiveness  and  kindness.  His  last 
act  of  consciousness  was  an  act  of  prayer. 
O  Affection,  Forgiveness,  Faith !  ye  are 
mighty  spirits.  Ye  are  powerful  angels. 
And  the  soul  that  in  its  dying  moments 
trusts  to  these,  cannot  be  far  from  the 
gates  of  heaven,  whatever  the  past  life 
may  have  been.  However  passion  or 
excitement  may  have  led  a  soul  astray,  if 
at  the  last  and  final  hour  it  returns  to  the 
lessons  of  a  mother's  love,  of  a  father's 
care  —  if  it  learns  the  great  lesson  of 
forgiveness  to  its  enemies  —  if  at  the  last 
moment  it  can  utter  these  words :  "Father 

52 


The  Ferguson  Eulogy. 

of  life  and  light  and  love!" — these  shall 
be  winged  angels  —  troops  of  blessed 
spirits — that  will  bear  the  fainting, 
wounded  soul  to  the  blessed  abodes, 
and  forever  guard  it  against  despair.  Oh, 
my  friends!  those  mighty  gates  built  by 
the  Almighty  to  guard  the  entrance  to 
the  unseen  world,  will  not  open  at  the 
battle-ax  of  the  conqueror;  they  will 
not  roll  back  if  all  the  artillery  of  earth 
were  to  thunder  forth  a  demand,  which, 
indeed,  would  be  lost  in  the  infinite 
regions  of  eternal  space !  but  they  will 
open  with  thoughts  of  affection,  with 
forgiveness  of  injuries,  and  with  prayer. 
But  I  am  not  here  to  speak  of  the 
virtues  of  the  departed  alone.  He  had 
his  defects ;  they  were  great ;  they  were 
marked;  but  they  were  incident  to  his 
career  and  his  character.  He  was,  by 
nature  and  habit,  a  politician;  and  of  all 
callings,  that  of  a  politician  is  the  most 
illusive  and  unsatisfactory :  it  kindles  the 
mind  in  a  state  of  constant  excitement: 

53 


Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

it  is  a  constant  struggle,  which  is  fre 
quently  injurious  in  its  effects;  and  our 
friend,  with  all  his  fine  qualities,  was  no 
exception  to  the  rule.  Let  him  that  is 
without  sin  cast  the  first  stone.  Of  how 
many  can  we  say  that  no  greater  defect 
can  be  recorded?  Of  him  who  is  dead, 
what  worse  can  be  said?  He  was  hon 
orable,  honest,  loving,  generous,  placa 
ble  ;  and  if  amid  his  virtues,  there  were 
some  defects,  they  are  but  to  be  men 
tioned  to  be  forgiven  and  forgotten. 

Fellow-citizens,  the  words  I  utter  I 
should  not  deem  complete  if  I  did  not, 
before  I  close,  utter  a  word  of  warning. 
The  most  powerful  intellect,  the  most 
amiable  qualities,  may  be  shaded  by  a 
love  for  excitement  and  the  evils  which 
the  life  of  a  politician  is  but  too  apt  to 
engender.  What  Ferguson  was,  we  know. 
What  he  might  have  been,  if  he  had 
conquered  himself,  who  can  tell?  The 
inspired  Book  says  that  "  he  that  ruleth 
his  own  spirit  is  greater  than  him  that 

54 


The  Ferguson  Eulogy. 

taketli  a  city,"  and  if  our  departed  friend 
could  have  conquered  himself,  who  could 
have  stayed  the  resistless  course  of  his 
bright  intellect?  It  should  be  a  warn 
ing  to  us  all,  gray  heads  as  well  as  to 
young  men.  All  should  remember  that 
the  pursuit  of  politics  is  delusive  and 
full  of  temptation.  No  man  should  forget 
the  duty  he  owes  to  his  country,  but  all 
should  remember  that  they  owe  a  duty 
to  themselves.  When  men  —  I  refer  now 
more  particularly  to  young  men  —  see  a 
great  statesman  stand  forth  in  the  midst 
of  a  listening  senate,  and  mark  the  stamp 
which  he  makes  upon  the  public  mind, 
and  upon  the  policy  of  the  country,  by 
the  force  of  his  intellectual  vigor,  they 
are  apt  to  forget  the  labors  by  which 
that  proud  position  has  been  achieved  — 
to  forget  how  many  have  sought  to  attain 
such  a  lofty  position  and  have  failed ;  and 
to  forget  that  he  who  is  now  filling  their 
minds  with  admiration,  may  be  on  the 
eve  of  a  sudden  fall.  Politics  should  not 


55 


Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

be  the  pursuit — I  mean  the  only  pursuit 
—  of  any  man.  Representative  honors, 
official  station,  should  only  be  the  occa 
sional  reward,  or  the  occasional  sacrifice ; 
and  if,  forgetting  this  rule,  young  men 
attempt  to  make  politics  their  only  hope, 
with  the  probability  that  in  many  cases 
they  will  fail,  and  that  if  successful,  they 
will  surely  be  exposed  to  a  thousand 
temptations :  if  they  love  excitement  for 
its  own  sake  —  the  noisy  meetings,  the 
conventions,  the  elections  —  this  love  for 
excitement  will  grow  upon  them,  and 
they  will  soon  be  on  the  high  road  to 
ruin. 

If  any  one  is  determined  to  achieve 
distinction  in  politics,  let  him  first  ob 
tain  a  competency  in  some  trade,  profes 
sion,  or  pursuit,  and  then,  even  if  unsuc 
cessful  in  politics,  the  misstep  will  not 
be  irretrievable.  But,  young  men,  do 
not  be  beguiled  by  the  example  of  our 
Ferguson,  even  if  you  possess  his  splen 
did  talents  —  even  if  you  could  achieve 

56 


The  Ferguson  Eulogy. 

the  success  he  did :  look  at  the  end  1 
There  he  lies  in  a  bloody  grave.  Let 
your  habits  be  fixed.  "  Let  all  the  ends 
thou  aimest  at  be  thy  country's  and  thy 
God's." 

Fellow-citizens,  I  have  said  what  I 
supposed  this  occasion  most  required. 
If  I  had  been  told  sixteen  years  ago  that 
it  would  be  my  fortune  to  stand  by  the 
bloody  grave  of  my  young  friend,  in  the 
city  of  Sacramento  on  the  Pacific  coast, 
I  could  scarcely  have  believed  it  had  an 
angel  from  heaven  told  me  so;  for  at 
that  time  there  was  no  civilized  Pacific 
coast.  Then  his  course  was  unmarked, 
and  my  future  was  so  marked  out,  that 
it  would  seem  but  little  less  than  a 
miracle  that  I  should  stand  here,  by 
his  dying  request,  to  offer  a  few  poor 
remarks  over  his  bier,  before  he  is  laid 
to  rest  in  the  place  he  loved  so  well  — 
in  the  city  named  after  the  sweeping 
Sacramento.  But  who  can  tell  what  a  day 
may  bring  forth?  Here  we  see  the  sud- 

57 


Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

den,  untimely  end  of  one  who  was  amia 
ble,  gifted,  and  who  was  looking  forward 
to  a  long  career  of  honor  and  fame.  And 
perhaps  it  may  be  my  lot  to  be  shortly 
laid  in  the  grave;  and  perhaps  in  this 
assembly  some  one  may  be  called  upon 
to  address  some  remarks  over  my  poor 
lifeless  body  —  even  as  I  have  been 
called  upon  on  the  present  occasion;  and 
if  this  should  be  so,  I  pray  that  that 
friend  may  accord  to  me  as  much  of 
praise  and  as  little  of  blame  as  will  be 
consistent  with  the  truth. 

In  conclusion,  I  would  remark  that  I 
have  no  words  sufficient  to  express  my 
own  personal  regret.  I  have  lost  a  warm 
personal  friend.  I  may  find  others,  but 
I  shall  not  be  able  to  find  friends  that  I 
have  loved  in  other  years.  I  shall  not 
often  find  those  to  whom  I  can,  as  I 
could  to  him,  talk  of  the  old  familiar 
times  and  the  lessons  I  taught  him  in 
early  life  —  of  the  virtues  and  example 
of  his  parents  —  of  his  mother's,  his 

58 


The  Ferguson  Eulogy. 

poor  afflicted  mother's  affection  and  love 
—  of  his  old  contests  —  his  old  hopes, 
so  often  broken.  I  shall  not  often  find 
friends  like  these,  nor  can  the  breach 
which  death  has  made  be  so  easily 
repaired. 

Let  me  hope,  for  myself  and  us  all, 
that  when  we  have  filled  our  allotted 
space  in  this  world;  when  we  are 
attended  by  weeping  friends,  for  the 
purpose  of  removing  us  to  our  last  rest 
ing-place,  that  it  shall  not  be  said  of  us 
that  we  have  lived  without  purpose,  but 
that  we  have  gathered  friends  in  the  days 
of  our  manhood ;  that  we  have  left  fruits 
to  bloom  when  we  have  departed. 


59 


THE    BEODEKICK    OEATION 


DAVID  C.  BRODERICK,  stone-cutter's  son  and  United 
States  Senator,  was  born  in  Washington,  D.  C.,  on  the  4th 
of  February,  1820.  In  his  sixth  year  the  family  settled 
permanently  in  New  York  City.  When  he  was  fourteen 
his  father  died,  and,  at  seventeen,  he  was  apprenticed  to 
his  father's  trade,  and  followed  it  for  some  years.  He 
received  little  education  in  boyhood,  but  began  a  wide 
course  of  reading  before  coming  of  age.  He  became 
prominent  in  local  politics  on  the  Democratic  side,  and 
in  the  fire  organization,  being  foreman  of  Howard  En 
gine  Company,  No.  34.  The  death  of  his  mother  in '42,  and 
the  loss  of  his  brother  by  an  accident  soon  after,  left  him 
without  a  known  relative.  In '46  he  was  nominated  for 
Congress  by  one  wing  of  his  party,  the  Young  Democracy, 
but  was  defeated.  He  arrived  in  California  in  1849.  While 
an  operative  in  Samuel  W.  Haight's  assay  office,  San  Fran 
cisco,  he  was,  in  January,  1850,  elected  to  a  vacancy  in  the 
State  Senate,  and  was  re-elected  for  a  full  term.  He  had 
organized  the  first  fire  company  in  the  city— Empire 
No.  1  — and  became  its  foreman.  When  Broderick  died, 
the  company  took  his  name. 

In  January,  1852,  he  was  defeated  by  John  B.  Weller 
for  the  Democratic  nomination  for  United  States  Senator 
—  losing  the  prize  by  one  vote.  Five  years  later,  he  was 
elected  to  that  office  for  a  full  term  of  six  years  from  the 
4th  of  March,  1857.  The  Democratic  party  being  divided 
by  the  slavery  question  into  Northern  and  Southern  wings, 
Broaerick  led  the  former,  while  Southern  men,  generally, 
followed  his  senatorial  colleague,  Wm.  M.  Gwin.  President 
Buchanan  favored  the  Southern  wing,  and  Senator  Gwin 
directed  the  distribution  of  Federal  patronage  in  Cali 
fornia.  Returning  home,  after  an  open  breach  with  the 
President,  Broderick  entered,  with  great  determination, 
into  the  most  excising  and  remarkable  political  canvass 
the  State  has  known  — that  of  1859.  It  was  the  campaign 

63 


Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

which  the  genius  of  Baker  so  illumined.  The  Democratic 
party  broke  squarely  in  two,  and  the  Republicans  made 
their  first  great  fight,  but  not  a  winning  one.  The  Ad 
ministration  Democrats  elected  their  full  ticket  for  State 
officers  (Latham  for  Governor),  and,  although  Douglas 
Democrats  and  Republicans  united  upon  Baker  and  Sib- 
ley  for  Congress,  the  latter  were  defeated  overwhelm 
ingly. 

In  June,  1859,  the  campaign  pending,  Judge  David  S. 
Terry,  of  the  Supreme  Court,  Administration  Democrat, 
in  a  public  speech,  alluded  to  the  other  wing  of  his  party 
as  "  the  personal  chattels  of  a  single  individual  whom 
they  are  ashamed  of.  They  belong,  body  and  breeches, 
to  David  C.  Broderick."  On  reading  this  speech,  Brod- 
erick  remarked  that  he  had  once  referred  to  Judge  Terry 
as  the  only  honest  man  on  the  Supreme  Bench,  but  that 
now  he  took  it  back.  D.  W.  Perley,  a  friend  of  Judge  Terry, 
heard  this  expression,  and  challenged  Broderick  to  a 
duel.  The  Senator  replied,  in  effect,  that  he  would  be 
otherwise  engaged  until  the  canvass  was  ended.  Right 
after  the  election,  when  Broderick  and  Baker  were  in  the 
valley  of  defeat,  Judge  Terry  resigned  from  the  Supreme 
Bench,  and,  alter  correspondence,  Broderick  explaining, 
but  not  retracting,  the  Judge  challenged  the  Senator,  who 
accepted.  On  the  12th  of  September,  1859,  near  Lake 
Merced,  was  fought  the  most  memorable  duel  in  our 
annals,  graphically  described  in  BENCH  AND  BAB  IN  CALI 
FORNIA,  by  an  eye-witness.  Broderick  fell  at  the  first  ex 
change  of  shots,  struck  full  in  the  right  breast.  He 
expired  four  days  later.  The  body  was  placed  in  state  in 
the  Union  Hotel,  fronting  Portsmouth  Square,  in  which 
Ferguson  had  died  a  year  before.  The  funeral  occurred 
on  Sunday,  September  18th,  the  same  master  tongue  that 
spoke  at  Ferguson's  bier  delivering  the  eulogium. 

Broderick  left  a  large  estate  — the  result  of  invest 
ments  in  San  Francisco  realty— which  was  the  subject  of 
protracted  litigation.  A  chapter  in  REPRESENTATIVE  MEN 
OP  THE  PACIFIC  is  devoted  to  his  career. 

The  oration,  which  next  follows,  was  thus  referred  to 

64 


The  Broderick  Oration. 

by  George  Wilkes,  of  New  York  city,  in  a  newspaper 
eulogy  of  Baker,  soon  after  the  latter's  death: — 

"  At  the  foot  of  the  coffin  stood  the  priest;  at  its  head, 
and  so  he  could  gaze  fully  on  the  face  of  his  dead  friend, 
stood  the  fine  figure  of  the  orator.  Both  of  them,  the 
living  and  the  dead,  were  self-made  men;  and  the  son 
of  the  stone-cutter,  lying  in  mute  grandeur,  with  a  record 
floating  round  the  coffin  which  bowed  the  heads  of  the 
surrounding  thousands  down  in  silent  respect,  might 
have  been  proud  of  the  tribute  which  the  weaver's 
apprentice  was  about  to  lay  upon  his  breast.  For  min 
utes  after  the  vast  audience  had  settled  itself  to  hear  his 
words,  the  orator  did  not  speak.  He  did  not  look  in  the 
coffin  — nay,  neither  to  the  right  nor  left;  but  the  gaze  of 
his  fixed  eye  was  turned  within  his  mind,  and  the  tear 
was  upon  his  cheek.  Then,  when  the  silence  was  the 
most  intense,  his  tremulous  voice  rose  like  a  wail,  and, 
with  an  uninterrupted  stream  of  lofty,  burning,  and 
pathetic  words,  he  so  penetrated  and  possessed  the  hearts 
of  the  sorrowing  mulitude,  that  there  was  not  one  cheek 
less  moistened  than  his  own.  For  an  hour  he  held  them 
as  with  a  spell;  and  when  he  finished,  by  bending  over 
the  calm  face  and  stretching  his  arms  forward  by  an 
impressive  gesture,  exclaimed,  in  quavering  accents, 
'Good  friend!  brave  heart!  gallant  leader !  hail  and  fare 
well  P  the  audience  broke  into  a  general  response  of  sobs. 
Never,  perhaps,  was  eloquence  more  thrilling;  never, 
certainly,  was  it  better  adapted  to  the  temper  of  the 
listeners.  The  political  field  in  California  not  being  open 
to  immediate  occupation,  Baker  transferred  himself  to  Ore 
gon,  and  there  the  glow  of  his  last  effort  soon  carried 
him  to  the  highest  honors  of  that  State." 

Of  this  production,  Edward  Stanly  said,  in  his  own 
fine  eulogy  of  Baker :  "  I  have  read  no  effort  of  that  charac 
ter,  called  out  by  such  an  event,  so  admirable,  so  touch 
ing,  so  worthy  the  sweet  eloquence  of  Baker.  It  should 
crown  him  with  immortality." 


65 


THE   BEODEKICK   OKATION. 

CITIZENS  OF  CALIFOENIA:  A  Senator 
lies  dead  in  our  midst!  He  is  wrapped 
in  a  bloody  shroud,  and  we,  to  whom  his 
toils  and  cares  were  given,  are  about  to 
bear  him  to  the  place  appointed  for  all 
the  living.  It  is  not  fit  that  such  a  man 
should  pass  to  the  tomb  unheralded;  it 
is  not  fit  that  such  a  life  should  steal 
unnoticed  to  its  close;  it  is  not  fit  that 
such  a  death  should  call  forth  no  rebuke, 
or  be  followed  by  no  public  lamentation. 
It  is  this  conviction  which  impels  the 
gathering  of  this  assemblage.  We  are 
here  of  every  station  and  pursuit,  of  every 
creed  and  character,  each  in  his  capacity 
of  citizen,  to  swell  the  mournful  tribute 
which  the  majesty  of  the  people  offers 
to  the  unreplying  dead.  He  lies  to-day 
surrounded  by  little  of  funeral  pomp. 
No  banners  droop  above  the  bier,  no 

6? 


Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

melancholy  music  floats  upon  the  reluc 
tant  air.  The  hopes  of  high-hearted 
friends  droop  like  fading  flowers  upon 
his  breast,  and  the  struggling  sigh  com 
pels  the  tear  in  eyes  that  seldom  weep. 
Around  him  are  those  who  have  known 
him  best  and  loved  him  longest;  who 
have  shared  the  triumph,  and  endured 
the  defeat.  Near  him  are  the  gravest 
and  noblest  of  the  State,  possessed  by 
a  grief  at  once  earnest  and  sincere ;  while 
beyond,  the  masses  of  the  people  whom 
he  loved  and  for  whom  his  life  was  given, 
gather  like  a  thunder-cloud  of  swelling 
and  indignant  grief. 

In  such  a  presence,  fellow-citizens,  let  us 
linger  for  a  moment  at  the  portals  of  the 
tomb,  whose  shadowy  arches  vibrate  to  the 
public  heart,  to  speak  a  few  brief  words 
of  the  man,  of  his  life,  and  of  his  death. 

Mr.  Broderick  was  born  in  the  District 
of  Columbia,  in  1820.  He  was  of  Irish 
descent,  and  of  obscure  and  respectable 
parentage ;  he  had  little  of  early  advan- 

68 


The  Broderick  Oration. 

tages,  and  never  summoned  to  his  aid 
a  complete  and  finished  education.  His 
boyhood  and  his  early  manhood  were 
passed  in  the  city  of  New  York,  and  the 
loss  of  his  father  early  stimulated  him 
to  the  efforts  which  maintained  his  sur 
viving  mother  and  brother,  and  served 
also  to  fix  and  form  his  character  even 
in  his  boyhood.  His  love  for  his  mother 
was  his  first  and  most  distinctive  trait  of 
character,  and  when  his  brother  died  — 
an  early  and  sudden  death  —  the  shock 
gave  a  serious  and  reflective  cast  to  his 
habits  and  his  thoughts,  which  marked 
them  to  the  last  hour  of  his  life. 

He  was  always  filled  with  pride,  and 
energy,  and  ambition.  His  pride  was  in 
the  manliness  and  force  of  his  character, 
and  no  man  had  more  reason  than  he 
for  such  pride.  His  energy  was  mani 
fest  in  the  most  resolute  struggles  with 
poverty  and  obscurity,  and  his  ambition 
impelled  him  to  seek  a  foremost  place 
in  the  great  race  for  honorable  power. 

G9 


Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

Up  to  the  time  of  his  arrival  in  Cali 
fornia,  his  life  had  been  passed  amid 
events  incident  to  such  a  character. 
Fearless,  self-reliant,  open  in  his  enmi 
ties,  warm  in  his  friendships,  wedded 
to  his  opinions,  and  marching  directly 
to  his  purpose  through  and  over  all 
opposition,  his  career  was  checkered 
with  success  and  defeat;  but  even  in 
defeat,  his  energies  were  strengthened 
and  his  character  developed.  When  he 
reached  these  shores,  his  keen  observa 
tion  taught  him  at  once  that  he  trod  a 
broad  field,  and  that  a  higher  career  was 
before  him.  He  had  no  false  pride ; 
sprung  from  a  people  and  of  a  race 
whose  vocation  was  labor,  he  toiled  with 
his  own  hands,  and  sprang  at  a  bound 
from  the  workshop  to  the  legislative 
hall.  From  that  time  there  congregated 
around  him  and  against  him  the  elements 
of  success  and  defeat — strong  friend 
ships,  bitter  enmities,  high  praise,  malig 
nant  calumnies ;  but  he  trod  with  a  free 
70 


The  Broderick  Oration. 

and  a  proud  step  that  onward  path  which 
has  led  him  to  glory  and  the  grave. 

It  would  be  idle  for  me,  at  this  hour 
and  in  this  place,  to  speak  of  all  that 
history  with  unmitigated  praise ;  it  will 
be  idle  for  his  enemies  hereafter  to  deny 
his  claim  to  noble  virtues  and  high  pur 
poses.  When,  in  the  Legislature,  he 
boldly  denounced  the  special  legislation 
which  is  the  curse  of  a  new  country,  he 
proved  his  courage  and  his  rectitude. 
When  he  opposed  the  various  and  some 
times  successful  schemes  to  strike  out 
the  salutary  provisions  of  the  Constitu 
tion  which  guarded  free  labor,  he  was 
true  to  all  the  better  instincts  of  his  life. 
When,  prompted  by  ambition  and  the 
admiration  of  his  friends,  he  first  sought 
a  seat  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States, 
he  aimed  by  legitimate  effort  to  attain 
the  highest  of  all  earthly  positions,  and 
failed  with  honor. 

It  is  my  duty  to  say  that,  in  my  judg 
ment,  when  at  a  later  period  he  sought 

71 


Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

to  anticipate  the  senatorial  election,  he 
committed  an  error  which  I  think  he 
lived  to  regret.  .  It  would  have  been 
a  violation  of  the  true  principles  of  rep 
resentative  government,  which  no  reason, 
public  or  private,  could  justify,  and 
could  never  have  met  the  permanent 
approval  of  good  and  wise  men.  Yet, 
while  I  say  this  over  his  bier,  let  me 
remind  you  of  the  temptation  to  such 
an  error,  of  the  plans  and  reasons  which 
prompted  it,  of  the  many  good  pur 
poses  it  was  intended  to  effect.  And  if 
ambition,  "the  last  infirmity  of  noble 
minds,"  led  him  for  a  moment  from  the 
better  path,  let  me  remind  you  how  nobly 
he  regained  it. 

It  is  impossible  to  speak  within  the 
limits  of  this  address  of  the  events  of 
that  session  of  the  Legislature  at  which 
he  was  elected  to  the  Senate  of  the  United 
States;  but  some  things  should  not  be 
passed  in  silence  here.  The  contest 
between  him  and  the  present  Senator 


The  Broderick  Oration. 

had  been  bitter  and  personal.  He  had 
triumphed.  He  had  been  wonderfully 
sustained  by  his  friends,  and  stood  con 
fessedly  "  the  first  in  honor  and  the  first 
in  place."  He  yielded  to  an  appeal  made 
to  his  magnanimity  by  his  foe.  If  he 
judged  unwisely,  he  has  paid  the  forfeit 
well.  Never  in  the  history  of  political 
warfare  has  any  public  man  been  so  pur 
sued  ;  never  has  malignity  so  exhausted 
itself. 

Fellow-citizens !  the  man  whose  body 
lies  before  you  was  your  Senator.  From 
the  moment  of  his  election  his  character 
has  been  maligned,  his  motives  attacked, 
his  courage  impeached,  his  patriotism 
assailed.  It  has  been  a  system  tending 
to  one  end  —  and  the  end  is  here.  What 
was  his  crime?  Review  his  history — 
consider  his  public  acts  —  weigh  his 
private  character, — and  before  the  grave 
incloses  him  forever,  judge  between  him 
and  his  enemies. 

As  a  man  —  to  be  judged  in  his  pri- 

73 


Masterpieces  of  E.  D;  Baker. 

vate  relations — who  was  his  superior? 
It  was  his  boast,  and  amid  the  general 
license  of  a  new  country,  it  was  a  proud 
one,  that  his  most  scrutinizing  enemy 
could  fix  no  single  act  of  immorality 
upon  him!  Temperate,  decorous,  self- 
restrained,  he  had  passed  through  all 
the  excitements  of  California  unstained. 
No  man  could  charge  ]iim  with  broken 
faith  or  violated  trust ;  of  habits  simple 
and  inexpensive,  he  had  no  lust  of  gain. 
He  overreached  no  man's  weakness  in 
a  bargain,  and  withheld  from  no  man  his 
just  dues.  Never,  in  the  history  of  the 
State,  has  there  been  a  citizen  who  has 
borne  public  relations  more  stainless 
in  all  respects  than  he. 

But  it  is  not  by  this  standard  he  is  to 
be  judged.  He  was  a  public  man,  and 
his  memory  demands  a  public  judgment. 
What  was  his  public  crime  ?  The  answer 
is  in  his  own  words :  "  /  die  because  I  was 
opposed  to  a  corrupt  administration,  and 
the  extension  of  slavery."  Fellow-citizens, 

74 


The  Broderick  Oration. 

they  are  remarkable  words,  uttered  at 
a  very  remarkable  moment ;  they  involve 
the  history  of  his  senatorial  career,  and 
of  its  sad  and  bloody  termination. 

When  Mr.  Broderick  entered  the  Sen 
ate,  he  had  been  elected  at  the  beginning 
of  a  Presidential  term  as  the  friend  of 
the  President-elect,  having  undoubtedly 
been  one  of  his  most  influential  sup 
porters.  There  were  unquestionably  some 
things  in  the  exercise  of  the  appointing 
power  which  he  could  have  wished  other 
wise;  but  he  had  every  reason  to  remain 
with  the  Administration  which  could 
be  supposed  to  weigh  with  a  man  in  his 
position.  He  had  heartily  maintained 
the  doctrine  of  popular  sovereignty,  as 
set  forth  in  the  Cincinnati  platform,  and 
he  never  wavered  in  his  support  till  the 
day  of  his  death.  But  when  in  his  judg 
ment  the  President  betrayed  his  obliga 
tions  to  his  party  and  country  —  when, 
in  the  whole  series  of  acts  in  relation  to 
Kansas,  he  proved  recreant  to  his  pledges 

75 


Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

and  instructions  —  when  the  whole  power 
of  the  Administration  was  brought  to 
bear  upon  the  legislative  branch  of  the 
Government,  in  order  to  force  slavery 
upon  an  unwilling  people  —  then,  in  the 
high  performance  of  his  duty  as  a  Senator, 
he  rebuked  the  Administration  by  his 
voice  and  vote,  and  stood  by  his  prin 
ciples.  It  is  true,  he  adopted  no  half 
way  measures.  He  threw  the  whole 
weight  of  his  character  into  the  ranks  of 
the  opposition.  He  endeavored  to  arouse 
the  people  to  an  indignant  sense  of  the 
iniquitous  tyranny  of  Federal  power,  and 
kindling  with  the  contest,  became  its 
fiercest  and  firmest  opponent.  Fellow- 
citizens,  whatever  may  have  been  your 
political  predilections,  it  is  impossible  to 
repress  your  admiration,  as  you  review 
the  conduct  of  the  man  who  lies  hushed 
in  death  before  you.  You  read  in  his 
history  a  glorious  imitation  of  the  great 
popular  leaders  who  have  opposed  the 
despotic  influences  of  power  in  other 

76 


The  Broderick  Oration. 

lands  and  in  our  own.  When  John 
Hampden  died  on  Chalgroye  field,  he 
sealed  his  devotion  to  popular  liberty 
with  his  blood.  The  eloquence  of  Fox 
found  the  sources  of  its  inspiration  in 
his  love  for  the  people.  When  Senators 
conspired  against  Tiberius  Gracchus,  and 
the  Tribune  of  the  people  fell  beneath 
their  daggers,  it  was  power  that  prompted 
the  crime  and  demanded  the  sacrifice. 
Who  can  doubt,  if  your  Senator  had 
surrendered  his  free  thought,  and  bent  in 
submission  to  the  rule  of  the  Adminis 
tration —  who  can  doubt  that,  instead  of 
resting  on  a  bloody  bier,  he  would  have 
this  day  been  reposing  in  the  inglorious 
felicitude  of  Presidential  sunshine? 

Fellow-citizens,  let  no  man  suppose 
that  the  death  of  the  eminent  citizen  of 
whom  I  speak  was  caused  by  any  other 
reason  than  that  to  which  his  own  words 
assign  it.  It  has  been  long  foreshadowed 
—  it  was  predicted  by  his  friends  — 
it  was  threatened  by  his  enemies :  it 
77 


Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

was  the  consequence  of  intense  political 
hatred.  His  death  was  a  political  neces 
sity,  poorly  veiled  beneath  the  guise  of 
a  private  quarrel.  Here,  in  his  own 
State,  among  those  who  witnessed  the 
late  canvass,  who  know  the  contending 
leaders,  among  those  who  know  the  antag 
onists  on  the  bloody  ground — here,  the 
public  conviction  is  so  thoroughly  settled, 
that  nothing  need  be  said.  Tested  by 
the  correspondence  itself,  there  was  no 
cause,  in  morals,  in  honor,  in  taste,  by 
any  code,  by  the  custom  of  any  civilized 
land,  there  was  no  cause  for  blood.  Let 
me  repeat  the  story  —  it  is  as  brief  as  it 
is  fatal :  A  judge  of  the  Supreme  Court 
descends  into  a  political  convention  —  it 
is  just,  however,  to  say  that  the  occasion 
was  to  return  thanks  to  his  friends  for  an 
unsuccessful  support.  In  a  speech  bitter 
and  personal,  he  stigmatized  Senator 
Broderick  and  all  his  friends  in  words  of 
contemptuous  insult.  When  Mr.  Brod 
erick  saw  that  speech,  he  retorted,  saying 

78 


The  Broderick  Oration. 

in  substance,  that  he  had  heretofore 
spoken  of  Judge  Terry  as  an  honest  man, 
but  that  he  now  took  it  back.  When 
inquired  of,  he  admitted  that  he  had  so 
said,  and  connected  his  words  with  Judge 
Terry's  speech  as  prompting  them.  So 
far  as  Judge  Terry  personally  was  con 
cerned,  this  was  the  cause  of  mortal 
combat;  there  was  no  other. 

In  the  contest  which  has  just  termi 
nated  in  the  State,  Mr.  Broderick  had 
taken  a  leading  part;  he  had  been  engaged 
in  controversies  very  personal  in  their 
nature,  because  the  subjects  of  public 
discussion  had  involved  the  character 
and  conduct  of  many  public  and  distin 
guished  men.  But  Judge  Terry  was  not 
one  of  these.  He  was  no  contestant;  his 
conduct  was  not  in  issue;  he  had  been 
mentioned  but  once  incidentally — in 
reply  to  his  own  attack — and,  except  as 
it  might  be  found  in  his  peculiar  traits 
or  peculiar  fitness,  there  was  no  reason 
to  suppose  that  he  would  seek  any  man's 

79 


Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

blood.  When  William  of  Nassau,  the 
deliverer  of  Holland,  died  in  the  presence 
of  his  wife  and  children,  the  hand  that 
struck  the  blow  was  not  nerved  by  pri 
vate  vengeance.  When  the  fourth  Henry 
passed  unharmed  amid  the  dangers  of 
the  field  of  Ivry,  to  perish  in  the  streets 
of  his  capital  by  the  hand  of  a  fanatic, 
he  did  not  seek  to  avenge  a  private  grief. 
An  exaggerated  sense  of  personal  honor 
—  a  weak  mind  with  choleric  passions, 
intense  sectional  prejudice  united  with 
great  confidence  in  the  use  of  arms  — 
these  sometimes  serve  to  stimulate  the 
instruments  which  accomplish  the  deep 
est  and  deadliest  purpose. 

Fellow-citizens !  One  year  ago  to-day 
I  performed  a  duty,  such  as  I  perform 
to-day,  over  the  remains  of  Senator  Fer 
guson,  who  died  as  Broderick  died, 
tangled  in  the  meshes  of  the  code  of 
honor.  To-day  there  is  another  and  more 
eminent  sacrifice.  To-day  I  renew  my 
protest;  to-day  I  utter  yours.  The  code 

80 


The  Broderick  Oration. 

of  honor  is  a  delusion  and  a  snare ;  it 
palters  with  the  hope  of  a  true  courage 
and  binds  it  at  the  feet  of  crafty  and 
cruel  skill.  It  surrounds  its  victim  with 
the  pomp  and  grace  of  the  procession, 
but  leaves  him  bleeding  on  the  altar.  It 
substitutes  cold  and  deliberate  prepara 
tion  for  courageous  and  manly  impulse, 
and  arms  the  one  to  disarm  the  other ;  it 
may  prevent  fraud  between  practiced 
duelists  who  should  be  forever  without 
its  pale,  but  it  makes  the  mere  "  trick  of 
the  weapon "  superior  to  the  noblest 
cause  and  the  truest  courage.  Its  pre 
tense  of  equality  is  a  lie  —  it  is  equal  in 
all  the  form,  it  is  unjust  in  all  the  sub 
stance  —  the  habitude  of  arms,  the  early 
training,  the  frontier  life,  the  border  war, 
the  sectional  custom,  the  life  of  leisure, 
all  these  are  advantages  which  no  nego 
tiation  can  neutralize,  and  which  no 
courage  can  overcome. 

But,  fellow-citizens,  the  protest  is  not 
only  spoken  in  your  words  and  in  mine  — 

81 


Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

it  is  written  in  indelible  characters ;  it  is 
written  in  the  blood  of  Gilbert,  in  the 
blood  of  Ferguson,  in  the  blood  of  Brod- 
erick ;  and  the  inscription  will  not  alto 
gether  fade. 

With  the  administration  of  the  code 
in  this  particular  case,  I  am  not  here  to 
deal.  Amid  passionate  grief,  let  us  strive 
to  be  just.  I  give  no  currency  to  rumors 
of  which  personally  I  know  nothing; 
there  are  other  tribunals  to  which  they 
may  well  be  referred,  and  this  is  not  one 
of  them.  But  I  am  here  to  say,  that 
whatever  in  the  code  of  honor  or  out  of 
it  demands  or  allows  a  deadly  combat 
where  there  is  not  in  all  things  entire 
and  certain  equality,  is  a  prostitution  of 
the  name,  is  an  evasion  of  the  substance, 
and  is  a  shield  blazoned  with  the  name 
of  Chivalry,  to  cover  the  malignity  of 
murder. 

And  now,  as  the  shadows  turn  toward 
the  east,  and  we  prepare  to  bear  these 
poor  remains  to  their  silent  resting-place, 

82 


I  UNIVERSITY  } 

• 

The  Broderick  Oration. 

let  us  not  seek  to  repress  the  generous 
pride  which  prompts  a  recital  of  noble 
deeds  and  manly  virtues.  He  rose  un 
aided  and  alone;  he  began  his  career 
without  family  or  fortune,  in  the  face  of 
difficulties ;  he  inherited  poverty  and 
obscurity ;  he  died  a  Senator  in  Congress, 
having  written  his  name  in  the  history 
of  the  great  struggle  for  the  rights  of 
the  people  against  the  despotism  of 
organization  and  the  corruption  of  power. 
He  leaves  in  the  hearts  of  his  friends 
the  tenderest  and  the  proudest  recollec 
tions.  He  was  honest,  faithful,  earnest, 
sincere,  generous,  and  brave :  he  felt  in 
all  the  great  crises  of  his  life  that  he 
was  a  leader  in  the  ranks;  that  it  was  his 
high  duty  to  uphold  the  interests  of  the 
masses ;  that  he  could  not  falter.  When 
he  returned  from  that  fatal  field,  while 
the  dark  wing  of  the  Archangel  of  Death 
was  casting  its  shadows  upon  his  brow, 
his  greatest  anxiety  was  as  to  the  per 
formance  of  his  duty.  He  felt  that  all 


Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

his  strength  and  all  his  life  belonged 
to  the  cause  to  which  he  had  devoted 
them.  "Baker,"  said  he — and  to  me 
they  were  his  last  words —  "  Baker,  when 
I  was  struck  I  tried  to  stand  firm,  but  the 
blow  blinded  me,  and  I  could  not."  I 
trust  it  is  no  shame  to  my  manhood  that 
tears  blinded  me  as  he  said  it.  Of  his 
last  hour  I  have  no  heart  to  speak.  He 
was  the  last  of  his  race ;  there  was  no 
kindred  hand  to  smooth  his  couch  or  wipe 
the  death  damp  from  his  brow ;  but  around 
that  dying  bed  strong  men,  the  friends  of 
early  manhood,  the  devoted  adherents  of 
later  life,  bowed  in  irrepressible  grief, 
"and  lifted  up  their  voices  and  wept." 

But,  fellow-citizens,  the  voice  of  lamen 
tation  is  not  uttered  by  private  friend 
ship  alone — the  blow  that  struck  his 
manly  breast  has  touched  the  heart  of  a 
people,  and  as  the  sad  tidings  spread,  a 
general  gloom  prevails.  Who  now  shall 
speak  for  California  ? — who  be  the  inter 
preter  of  the  wants  of  the  Pacific  Coast  ? 

84 


The  Broderick  Oration. 

Who  can  appeal  to  the  communities  of 
the  Atlantic  who  love  free  labor  ?  Who 
can  speak  for  masses  of  men  with  a  pas 
sionate  love  for  the  classes  from  whence 
he  sprung  ?  Who  can  defy  the  blandish 
ments  of  power,  the  insolence  of  office, 
the  corruption  of  administrations  ?  What 
hopes  are  buried  with  him  in  the  grave  ! 
"Ah !  who  that  gallant  spirit  shall  resume, 
Leap  from  Eurotas'  bank,  and  call  us  from 
the  tomb?" 

But  the  last  word  must  be  spoken,  and 
the  imperious  mandate  of  Death  must  be 
fulfilled.  Thus,  O  brave  heart !  we  bear 
thee  to  thy  rest.  Thus,  surrounded  by 
tens  of  thousands,  we  leave  thee  to  the 
equal  grave.  As  in  life,  no  other  voice 
among  us  so  rung  its  trumpet  blast  upon 
the  ear  of  freemen,  so  in  death  its  echoes 
will  reverberate  amid  our  mountains  and 
valleys,  until  truth  and  valor  cease  to 
appeal  to  the  human  heart. 

Good  friend!  true  hero!  hail  and 
farewell. 


THE     AMERICAN     THEATEE 
SPEECH 


WE  come  to  the  most  triumphant  effort  of  Baker's 
life  — the  most  triumphant,  in  that  he  never  stood  forth 
the  conqueror  as  on  that  occasion,  and  never  so  proudly 
waved  his  unchallenged  banner.  It  has  already  appeared 
how,  so  unexpectedly  and  swiftly,  the  valley  of  defeat  had 
been  left  and  the  summit  of  victory  reached.  The  orator 
alludes  to  the  sharp  turns  of  fortune  more  than  once  in  this 
great  effort,  known  universally  as  "  The  American  Tneater 
Speech,"  in  which,  among  many  fine  passages,  occurs  the 
impassioned  tribute  to  Freedom,  and  with  which  speech 
alone  his  name  is  associated  in  the  minds  of  thousands. 
The  roomy  old  theater,  long  since  demolished,  stood 
where  now  is  Halleck  Block,  on  the  northeasterly  corner 
of  Sansome  and  Halleck  streets.  The  orator  was  passing 
through  San  Francisco  to  Washington  City,  in  his  pocket 
his  credentials  from  Oregon  as  her  Senator.  At  a  recep 
tion  by  his  friends  he  declined  to  make  a  speech,  but  he 
had  a  surprise  for  F.  F.  Low  (who  was  to  be  Governor  of 
the  State  a  few  years  later).  When  Baker  was  electrifying 
the  masses  of  the  State  on  the  stump,  not  a  year  before, 
Low,  then  a  banker  at  Marysville,  had  enthusiastically 
promised  him  a  fine  suit  of  clothes,  "  when  you  take  your 
seat  in  Congress."  When  defeat  came,  Low  thought  no 
more  of  the  matter.  Baker,  now  a  Senator  from  another 
commonwealth,  met  the  Marysville  banker  at  the  San 
Francisco  reception,  and  said,  "Low,  I '11  take  that  suit  of 
clothes."  Of  course,  he  was  accommodated.  The  American 
Theater  speech  was  delivered  on  the  evening  of  the  same 
day,  October  26, 1860.  Baker  was  never  so  animated.  It 
was  the  liveliest  meeting  he  ever  addressed,  the  ladies 
more  than  filling  the  dress  circle. 


89 


THE   AMEKICAN   THEATEE 
SPEECH. 

I  OWE  more  thanks  than  my  life  can 
repay ;  and  I  wish  all  Oregon  were  here 
to-night.  We  are  a  quiet,  earnest,  pas 
toral  people,  but  by  the  banks  of  the 
Willamette  there  are  many  whose  hearts 
would  beat  high  as  yours  if  they  were 
here.  I  owe  you  much,  but  I  owe  more 
to  Oregon.  [Laughter.]  My  heart  is 
very  full  and  very  glad.  Oregon  regards 
herself  as  one  with  California — the  inter 
ests  of  the  Pacific  as  the  same,  whether 
at  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia  or  the 
Golden  Gate.  More  than  that,  she  be 
lieves  that  the  interests  of  the  Union  are 
one,  and  she  intends  to  stand  by  it. 

Just  when  I  ought  to  make  the  best 
speech  of  my  life,  I  know  I  '11  make  the 
very  worst.  Four  years  ago  this  night, 
in  front  of  this  very  house,  I  had  the 

91 


Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

honor  to  attempt  to  lay  a  little  deeper 
and  broader  the  principles  of  Republi 
canism  by  trying  to  show  why  we  should 
elect  as  President  an  eminent  citizen, 
who,  I  believe,  is  here  to-night  [turning 
to  the  box  where  sat  John  C.  Fremont, 
with  his  family].  We  were  a  young  and 
untried  party  then.  I  recollect  saying 
then,  that,  as  "  Revolutions  never  go 
backwards,"  whoever  became  a  Republi 
can  then  would  remain  one.  We  have 
lost  nobody  since,  and  are  gaining  every 
body.  [Laughter.]  I  know  we  are  going 
to  win.  All  signs  in  heaven  and  earth 
approve  it.  Still,  on  the  eve  of  battle, 
though  in  every  skirmish  they  have 
shown  superiority,  the  leader  may  well 
pass  before  the  line;  and  if  I  might 
assume  that  position  for  a  single  mo 
ment,  as  the  shouts  of  victory  echo  from 
wing  to  wing,  from  front  to  rear,  I  would 
pass  along  to  assure  the  fearful  and 
confirm  the  bold.  [Applause.] 

They  used  to  say  that  we  were  a  sec- 

92 


The  American  Theater  Speech. 

tional  party.  We  sectional !  Who,  then, 
is  national?  Breckinridge  will  get  no 
State  at  the  North,  and  the  Bell  and 
Everett  men  say  he  will  get  none  at  the 
South.  [Laughter.]  Sectional,  are  we  ? 
We  used  to  reply:  First,  freedom  can't 
be  sectional ;  it  must  be  national.  [Here 
there  was  some  struggle  near  the  door. 
"Heavens!  let  us  get  out — we're  swel 
tering!"  cried  a  voice.  "You  can't  stir 
a  peg — you  must  stand  it,"  answered 
another.  Soon  all  was  quiet  again.] 

But  they  used  to  affirm  that,  as  a  party, 
we  mean  to  deal  unfairly  with  a  portion 
of  the  States.  When  have  we  said  or 
intimated  anything  of  the  sort?  If  we 
are  not  yet  represented  in  every  State, 
whose  fault  is  it?  They  won't  let  us  go 
South  to  make  Kepublicans.  [Laugh 
ter.]  Mr.  Douglas  intimates  that  Mr. 
Lincoln  can't  go  South  to  see  his  mother. 
But  in  this  view  of  the  matter  we  are 
getting  over  our  sectionalism  very  fast. 
Have  you  heard  from  St.  Louis?  Have 


Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

you  ever  heard  of  Frank  Blair  ?  Have 
you  heard  anything  from  Western  Vir 
ginia?*  Anything  from  the  poor  white 
folks  of  the  South?  If  it  is  sectional 
not  to  get  many  votes  in  one  section, 
how  many  will  Breckinridge  get  in  New 
York?  All  he  will  get  there  will  be  by 
pretending  not  to  run.  [Laughter.]  How 
many  votes  will  he  get  in  Illinois?  Will 
he  get  half  as  many  votes  in  Illinois  as 
Lincoln  will  in  Missouri? 

But  I  prefer  to  test  it  in  another  way. 
I  deny  that  in  the  beginning,  or  in  the 
end,  we  desire  to  interfere  with  slavery 
in  any  way  where  it  exists  by  law.  I 
deny  that  we  desire  to  interfere  with 
slavery  in  the  Territories  where  it  has 
been  put  there  by  the  people.  And  as 
a  party  and  as  individuals  we  have  more 
interest  in  preserving  the  Union  than  you 
have.  We  never  proposed — you  never 
heard  one  of  us  propose — to  dissolve 
the  Union.  Many  of  us  were  old  Whigs, 

*  West  Virginia  was  not  yet  a  State. 
94 


The  American  Theater  Speech. 

and  we  have  been  beaten  out  of  our 
boots — not  once  only,  but  all  the  time. 
We  deplored  the  election  of  James  Bu 
chanan  as  a  national  calamity.  They  got 
their  President,  the  House,  the  Senate, 
the  Supreme  Court.  They  got  the  execu 
tive,  the  legislative  powers,  the  judiciary. 
Did  you  ever  hear  us  threaten,  imagine, 
or  predict  the  dissolution  of  the  Union? 
[Applause.] 

But  how  stand  you  Breckinridge  men 
on  this  subject?  I  will  not  say  that 
every  Breckinridge  man  is  a  disunionist ; 
but  I  will  say  that  every  disunionist  is  a 
Breckinridge  man.  [Great  laughter  and 
applause.]  The  difference  is  like  the 
Irishman's  pronunciation  in  talking  with 
an  Englishman  by  the  name  of  Footney. 
"Mr.  Futney,"  said  the  Irishman,  "you 
and  I  agree."  "Very  well,"  says  Mr. 
Footney;  "but  my  name  is  Footney." 
"Exactly  so,  Mr.  Futney;  Futney  it  is, 
then."  "But,  sir,"  says  the  Englishman, 
"my  name  is  not  Futney,  but  Footney — 

95 


Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

F,  double  o,  t — Footney."  "By  the  man 
tliat  made  Moses,  what  is  the  difference 
between  Futney  and  Futney?"  [Great 
laughter.]  Every  disunionist,  from  Yan- 
cey,  up  and  down,  is  a  Breckinridge  man. 
Here,  I  understand,  their  stump-speakers 
boldly  proclaim  the  doctrine.  The  Sena 
tor  from  Oregon*  said :  "  If  the  South 
don't  stand  up  for  her  rights"  —that  is, 
secede  —  "they  don't  deserve  to  have 
them."  We,  on  the  other  hand,  mean 
to  submit  to  everything,  but  we  will  have 
the  Union.  Oregon  is  the  farthest  from 
the  center,  but  I  believe  she  would  be 
the  last  State  to  leave  it.  [Applause.] 
Yours,  one  of  the  youngest  States,  would 
be  one  of  the  last  to  leave  it.  We  don't 
mean,  we  won't  mean,  we  never  shall 
mean,  to  dissolve.  It  is  easy  to  talk 
of  Union  when  you  have  the  offices ; 
but  when  you  haven't  them,  how  do 
you  talk?  I  repeat — we  don't  propose 
to  dissolve  the  Union,  and  we  don't 

*  General  Jo  Lane. 


The  American  Theater  Speech. 

propose  to  let  anybody  else  dissolve  it. 
[Cheers.] 

But  they  say,  "Our  sufferings  are 
intolerable;  and  if  you  elect  Lincoln 
we'll  dissolve  the  Union!"  We  propose 
to  give  them  a  chance  to  try  it.  What 
could  Lincoln  do  without  the  Senate, 
and  the  House,  and  the  Supreme  Court, 
to  make  a  dissolution  necessary?  He 
can't  touch  a  dollar  —  he  can't  appoint 
an  officer — he  can't  command  a  soldier 
to  a  single  point — he  cannot  free  a  slave. 
But  suppose  Lincoln  gets  the  House, — > 
and  I  think  he  will, —  suppose  he  gets  a 
majority  of  the  Senate,  too.  If  he  gets 
a  majority  of  the  Senate  and  the  House 
and  the  people,  I  should  think  it  would 
be  pretty  hard  to  dissolve.  Some 
of  the  judges  of  the  Supreme  Court 
are  getting  very  old;  but,  as  Jefferson 
said  of  judges,  they  never  die,  and  few 
resign  [laughter],  and  it  will  be  a 
long  time  before  the  Kepublicans  can 
get  the  power  to  do  anything  that  the 
97 


Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

public    voice    and    conscience    will    not 
approve. 

There  is  something  in  party  platforms. 
Many  will  persist  that  we  don't  mean  to 
admit  any  more  slave  States.  We  have 
no  such  platform.  We  have  given  no 
such  votes.  We  have  said  that  we  will 
not  interfere  with  slavery  in  the  States, 
nor  with  freedom  in  the  Territories. 
They  say  we  will  pass  laws  opposed  to 
the  extension  of  slavery  into  the  Terri 
tories.  Well,  our  fathers  were  in  that 
way — Washington  and  Jefferson.  Every 
body  was  that  way  once ;  and  you  are 
that  way,  too.  The  men  who  met  to 
make  the  California  Constitution  hastened 
to  dedicate  free  territory  to  free  men 
forever.  We  have  yielded  somewhat  of 
the  sternness  of  our  first  principles  in 
this  matter.  By  the  compromise  of  1820 
we  allowed  slave  States  to  be  made  out 
of  territory  acquired  by  purchase,  and 
only  insisted  that  north  of  a  certain  line 
they  should  not  go  with  their  slaves. 
98 


The  American  Theater  Speech. 

If  territory  was  free  when  acquired,  it 
was  to  be  left  free  forever.  In  1850, 
when,  as  Mr.  Seward  said,  the  Whig  and 
Democratic  parties  were  in  a  state  of 
dissolution,  they  wanted  another  set  of 
provisions — they  wanted  a  fugitive  slave 
law.  "Haven't  you  got  one?"  we  asked. 
"Yes,"  they  answered;  "we've  had  one 
for  forty  years;  but  your  judges  and 
juries  ain't  to  be  trusted."  "What!" 
we  exclaimed,  "would  you  set  aside  all 
our  system  of  jurisprudence?"  "Ah!" 
said  they,  "you  have  a  machinery  called 
the  habeas  corpus — you  must  give  that 
up."  We  argued  its  inherent  human  jus 
tice.  They  said  that  it  was  all  very  well 
for  a  white  man,  but  it  should  not  apply 
to  black  ones.  Suppose  I  have  a  black 
horse,  and  it  runs  away  from  Kentucky 
into  Illinois.  You  say  he  must  have  a 
jury  to  try  the  question  to  whom  he 
belongs.  But  if  my  black  man  runs 
away,  he  may  not  have  a  jury  trial.  We 
complained  that  the  demand  was  unjust; 


Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

but  then,  if  you  are  going  to  dissolve  the 
Union,  take  your  nigger,  and  let  us  have 
peace.  [Great  laughter.] 

Well,  in  1854,  there  was  the  Territory 
of  Kansas.  The  South  already  had  two 
thirds  of  the  original  territory  dedi 
cated  to  slavery;  but  still  they  grudged 
us  Kansas,  and  passed  the  Nebraska  Bill. 
Freedom,  elastic,  vigorous,  growing,  was 
too  fast  for  them;  it  made  Kansas  a  free 
Territory,  and  it  would  have  made  it  a 
free  State  if  it  had  not  been  for  J.  B.  I 
am  a  Popular  Sovereignty  Kepublican. 
[Faint  applause.]  I  was  last  year,  and  I 
am  now.  I  believe  in  popular  sover 
eignty,  not  as  a  principle,  but  as  a 
policy — as  a  measure.  And  I  don't 
believe  in  it  because  I  don't  care  about 
slavery.  I  do  care  about  slavery, — I 
do,  so  help  me  God!  I  do  care  about 
freedom.  But  since  the  experiment  in 
Kansas,  I  believe  more  in  the  capacity  of 
the  people  to  govern  themselves.  The 
people  will  not  tolerate  slavery  on  free 
100 


The  American  Theater  Speech. 

soil.  I  seize  from  the  Douglas  Demo 
crats  this  weapon,  which  in  their  hands 
is  a  reed,  but  in  ours  a  spear  of  fir, 
"fit  for  the  mast  of  some  tall  Admiral." 
We  will  make  it  a  great  weapon  for  free 
dom.  Before  it  the  slaveholders  writhe 
in  deep  distress.  They  go  out  "and 
stand."  [Laughter.]  They  break  up  their 
dearest  idol — the  traditionary  organiza 
tion  of  the  Democratic  party.  I  mock 
at  their  calamity — I  laugh  when  their 
fear  cometh.  [Laughter.]  Popular  sov 
ereignty  means  government  by  the  peo 
ple;  it  is  no  odds  whether  they  govern 
Kansas  by  their  votes  in  Kansas,  or  the 
Union  by  their  votes  in  the  Union. 

Southern  people  claim  the  right  to  go 
wherever  they  choose  with  their  prop 
erty.  I  say  in  reply  that  the  negro  is 
not  property  in  the  general  sense ;  he  is 
property  only  in  a  sort  of  qualified  sense. 
A  negro  can  be  property  only  in  the  face 
of  the  common  law,  humanity,  religion, 
literature,  and  philosophy — for  all  these 

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Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

claim  that  black  or  white,  rich  or  poor, 
high  or  low,  "a  man's  a  man  for  a'  that." 
[Great  cheering.]  It  is  true  that  there 
are  certain  compromises  of  the  Consti 
tution  affecting  this  question,  which  we 
all  agree  to  abide  by;  but  we  deny  that 
the  negro  is  by  common  law  a  slave.  He 
is  such  slave  only  by  local  law;  and  we 
say,  catch  him  where  you  can,  keep  him 
where  you  can,  hold  him  where  you  can; 
but  when  he  gets  away  from  your  local 
law,  he  is  free,  by  every  instinct  of  hu 
manity,  and  every  principle  of  the  com 
mon  law.  [Applause.]  We  deny,  then, 
that  he  is  "property"  which  you  have  a 
right  to  take  into  the  Territories,  and 
you  shall  not  carry  him  there  against  the 
common  sentiment  of  the  men  among 
whom  you  go.  Is  not  that  fair?  Can  you 
overcome  the  argument?  [Applause.] 

In  my  country,  where  our  hospitality 
[great  laughter  and  applause,  which  in 
terrupted  the  speaker] — in  my  country 
[renewed  laughter  and  cheers,  causing  a 

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The  American  Theater  Speech. 

long  pause] — well,  in  Oregon,  then! 
[Prolonged  applan.se.]  As  a  friend  at  my 
elbow  suggests,  if  it  is  n't  my  country, 
whose  country  is  it  ?  It  is  n't  Joe  Lane's, 
sure!  [Tremendous  applause.]  In  my 
country,  where  their  hospitality  is  broader 
than  their  means  of  dispensing  it  conve 
niently,  the  good  people  are  sometimes 
put  to  shifts  to  accommodate  those  who 
need  shelter,  and  it  becomes  necessary 
to  sleep  three  in  a  bed.  [Laughter.] 
Well,  in  traveling  through  the  country, 
I  stop  at  a  house  for  the  night,  and  I  am 
told  that  I  must  sleep  after  that  fashion 
— three  in  a  bed.  We  prepare  to  retire, 
when,  looking  at  one  of  my  companions 
for  the  night,  I  smell  brimstone.  [Here 
the  Colonel  sniffed  the  air  suspiciously, 
the  suggestive  operation  exciting  a 
tumult  of  laughter  on  the  part  of  his 
audience.]  I  say  to  him,  "My  good  friend, 
are  you  from  Scotland?"  [Renewed 
merriment.]  He  replies,  "No."  I  look 
around  —  feel  nervous  and  uncomfort- 

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Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

able — and  finally  exclaim,  "My  God! 
friend,  you 've  got  the  itch!"  He  says, 
"Well!"  and  I  say  "Well!"  And  then 
I  and  the  third  man  say,  "We  two  can't 
sleep  with  you,  and  we  are  in  the  major 
ity;  you  can't  come  to  bed  at  all." 
[Laughter.]  The  fellow  rejoins,  "Good 
God!  has  it  come  to  this — that  a  man 
can't  go  where  he  chooses  with  his  own 
property?"  [Eenewed  laughter  and  long 
continued  applause.]  Well,  gentlemen,  I 
have  illustrated — you  apply!  Slavery  is 
the  itch  to  free  labor,  and  we  say  it  ought 
not  to  be  carried  into  the  Territories 
against  the  will  of  the  free  men  who  go 
there.  [Great  cheering.] 

The  normal  condition  of  the  Terri 
tories  is  freedom.  Stand  on  the  edge  of 
the  Sierra  Nevadas,  or  upon  the  brow 
of  any  eminence  looking  down  into  the 
Territories  beyond,  and  what  do  you 
behold?  You  find  there  the  savage,  the 
wild  beast,  and  the  wilderness,  but  you 
do  not  find  slavery;  and  if  it  gets  there, 
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The  American  Theater  Speech. 

it  goes  there  by  your  local  law.  The 
Western  man  goes  into  the  Territories 
with  his  family,  his  horses,  his  oxen, 
his  ax  and  other  implements  of  labor. 
The  Southern  man  goes  with  his  slave. 
The  Western  man  says,  "  I  can't  work  by 
the  side  of  the  slave — he  degrades  my  free 
labor."  And  the  Irishman  or  German 
(who  don't  go  South  to  find  employment) 
says,  "  I  can't  work  by  the  side  of  the 
slave  either — it  degrades  my  labor." 
And  these  free  laborers  say,  "  Let  us  all 
go  to  work  together  and  get  Congress  to 
make  a  law  to  do  what  Madison  did  — 
turn  the  negro  out ;  and  if  they  don't  do 
it,  we  will  do  it  for  ourselves!"  But 
the  Southern  man  says,  "No,  you  don't! 
I  've  got  the  Dred  Scott  decision  in  my 
pocket,  which  holds  that  neither  Con 
gress  nor  the  Territorial  Legislature,  nor 
any  human  power  can  remove  human 
slavery  from  the  Territories ;  that  it  goes 
there  protected  by  the  Constitution  of 
the  United  States,  and  there  it  must 

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Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

remain;  and  now,  therefore,  I  tell  you 
Irishman,  and  German,  and  Western  man, 
that  your  ideas  of  popular  sovereignty 
and  free  labor  are  all  humbug!"  So 
says  the  slave-owner.  Now,  you  Douglas 
Democrats,  what  are  you  going  to  do 
about  this?  Some  of  you  say  you  don't 
care.  I  say  you  do  care,  for  you  can't 
help  caring ;  first,  because  you  are  a  man, 
and  you  feel  that  whatever  affects  human 
ity  affects  you.  It  is  absurd  to  say  that 
you  don't  care.  There  are  four  million 
slaves,  and  they  are  increasing.  The  fell 
influence  of  slavery  is  paralyzing  the 
interests  of  freedom  and  free  labor,  and 
checking  the  advance  of  the  whole 
country.  It  denies  us  legislation;  it 
defeats  our  Pacific  Railroad,  and  with 
holds  the  daily  overland  mail.  If  free 
dom  is  right,  and  popular  sovereignty  is 
right,  sustain  them  like  men ;  and  sustain 
those  alone  through  whom  you  can  give 
it  practical  effect;  if  they  are  not  right, 
abandon  them.  I  would  not  make  war, 

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The  American  Theater  Speech. 

revolutionize  the  Government,  dissolve 
the  Union,  or  nullify  the  decisions  of  the 
Supreme  Court.  If  that  Court  says  a 
negro  is  not  a  citizen,  I  submit;  but  I 
say  to  Douglas  men,  "  Let 's  attack  the 
Supreme  Court  and  reform  it!"  [Ap 
plause.]  This  is  not  nullification.  "We 
will  obey  the  decision  of  the  Supreme 
Court  in  this  particular  case ;  but  as  soon 
as  God  in  his  wisdom  takes  Taney  and 
the  rest  of  them  to  himself,  we  will,  with 
the  help  of  honest  Lincoln  put  better 
men  in  their  places,  and  thus  reverse  the 
Court  by  the  verdict  of  the  people. 
[Great  cheers.]  What  will  you  Douglas 
men  do?  Will  you  hear  the  music  of 
the  march  of  freedom,  and  stand  idly  by, 
or  turn  a  deaf  ear  ?  We  have  the  right 
and  duty  thus  lawfully  and  peacefully  to 
reverse  a  decision  which  puts  a  construc 
tion  upon  the  Constitution  that  is  higher 
than  the  Constitution  itself,  especially 
when  that  decision  relates  to  -personal 
liberty.  I  say  that  a  decision  which 
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Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

claims  that  by  the  Constitution  slavery 
goes  everywhere  the  flag  goes,  there  to 
be  and  remain  forever,  is  treason  against 
human  hope.  [Tremendous  applause.] 
You  Douglas  men,  you  will  vote  for  pop 
ular  sovereignty,  will  you?  Now,  how 
will  you  do  it?  What  State  will  you 
carry?  Perhaps  California  [cries  of 
"No,  No!"]  and  Missouri.  What  good 
will  that  do  you?  You  can  accomplish 
nothing.  Come  to  us,  then,  and  we  will 
do  you  good.  We  will  stand  with  you, 
and  use  popular  sovereignty  effectually, 
as  a  great  engine  of  freedom. 

There  are  people  who  talk  as  though 
we  Republicans  were  doing  the  South 
some  grievous  wrong.  How?  When? 
Where?  They  forget  that  freedom  and 
free  labor  are  the  great  interests  of  the 
country.  There  are  only  about  two  hun 
dred  and  seventy  thousand  white  men 
who  have  a  direct  interest  in  human 
slavery.  Will  legislating,  then,  for  thirty 
million  of  free  white  men,  instead  of  for 

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The  American  Theater  Speech. 

the  exclusive  interest  of  two  hundred 
and  seventy  thousand,  he  a  cause  for  dis 
union?  There  are  poor  white  men  in 
the  South  as  well  as  in  the  North,  who 
have  an  interest  in  this  question  of  free 
labor,  and  we  stand  for  the  interests  of 
free  labor  everywhere  the  world  over, 
wherever  a  bright  eye  sparkles,  or  a 
bright  idea  gives  forth  its  light!  [Ap 
plause.]  Every  country  has  a  bright 
idea  peculiar  to  itself.  In  England  it 
is  the  commercial  idea;  in  France,  the 
military  idea;  here,  freedom,  free  labor. 
[Applause.]  Why  not  assert  it,  then? 
Guard  it,  protect  it,  dignify  it,  ennoble 
it!  Do  you  want  slave  labor?  Do  you 
believe  in  these  Dred  Scott  notions,  and 
do  you  want  the  Constitution  to  carry 
slavery  with  you  and  fasten  it  upon  you 
when  you  go  to  Arizona  or  other  Terri 
tory?  I  ask  you,  citizens  of  foreign 
birth, — you,  young  German, — let  me  sup 
pose  that  you  have  been  in  America  for 
five  years,  and  you  go  back  to  the  old 

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Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

home  across  the  seas  and  give  an  account 
of  your  journeyings.  You  tell  your 
old  father  that  you  have  been  in  Cali 
fornia,  Oregon,  Iowa.  He  says  to  you, 
"Well,  John,  I  suppose  you  have  been 
down  into  that  fertile  State,  Virginia?" 
You  answer,  "No,"  and  he  asks,  "Why 
not?  "  "Because  they  have  slaves  there." 
"That's  right,  John,"  he  says;  "don't 
go  where  there  are  slaves.  You  started 
for  a  free  country,  John,  and  you  were 
right  to  keep  away  from  where  they  hold 
human  beings  in  bondage.  But  what  are 
your  politics,  John?"  "I  am  a  Demo 
crat."  "A  Democrat!  Well,  I  suppose 
that  means  in  America  just  what  it  does 
in  Europe — the  opposite  of  aristocracy. 
The  Democrat  demands  equal  rights  for 
all  men.  And  what  other  party  is  there, 
John?"  "The  Kepublican  party,"  you 
reply.  "That 's  a  good  name,  too,  John; 
but  what  is  the  difference  between  the 
Democrats  and  the  Eepublicans?"  And 
you  go  on  to  explain  that  Democracy  in 
no 


The  American  Theater  Speech. 

the  United  States  means  equal  rights  to 
all  sections,  and  Eepublicanism  means 
equal  rights  to  all  men,  but  that  you  have 
clung  to  the  Democratic  party  all  your 
time  in  America,  because  of  party  name 
and  organization,  and  old  associations. 
"What!"  says  the  old  man,  who  looks 
straight  at  the  propositions  you  have  pre 
sented.  "John,"  he  observes,  "didn't 
you  use  tc  love  freedom?  And  in  the 
Revolution  of  1848  were  you  not  ready 
to  die  for  it?  And  could  you,  after  all 
that,  go  over  to  the  United  States  to 
sneak  after  the  supporters  of  human 
slavery  and  help  them  carry  it  wherever 
they  choose,  to  curse  free  territory  with 
its  blight,  and  then  call  it  Democracy?" 

Suppose  we  keep  all  the  Territories 
for  freedom,  who  is  hurt?  We  do  only 
what  our  fathers  did.  We  strike  for 
freedom.  We  struggle  for  free  labor. 
We  act  in  the  eyes  of  the  world  as 
becomes  a  free  people.  The  South  has 
already  more  slave  territory  than  she 
ill 


Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

can  scratch  over  in  three  hundred  years. 
They  are  engaged  in  a  struggle  in  which 
they  have  no  sympathy  from  gods,  angels, 
or  man.  They  say  to  the  North,  "You 
may  take  the  offices,  or  at  least  a  good 
many  of  them — for  we  can  wind  you 
around  our  fingers  as  we  like;  but  we 
must  take  our  slaves  where  we  choose." 
And  in  this  struggle  who  are  they  going 
to  take  with  them?  First,  they  will  take 
a  part  of  the  South;  second,  all  of  the 
office-holders  of  the  North;  and  third, — 
nobody  else!  [Laughter.]  The  Democ 
racy  of  the  North,  other  than  the  office 
holders,  all  go  for  Douglas,  and,  as  to 
the  office-holders  we  shall  soon  turn  them 
out.  Who  else  sympathizes  with  the 
slaveholders  in  this  emergency?  Does 
Germany?  Russia?  England?  Spain? 
Mexico?  When,  after  the  Mexican  War, 
the  Commissioners  met  near  Mexico  City, 
to  make  a  treaty  of  peace,  they  said  to 
Mr.  Trist,  "We  are  a  conquered  people; 
you  can  do  with  us  what  you  please ;  but 
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The  American  Theater  Speech. 

we  implore  you,  do  not  force  slavery  on 
us." 

When  we  are  reproached  for  being 
Black  Republicans,  in  what  company  do 
they  put  us?  With  whom?  In  California 
who  are  with  us?  The  intelligence,  the 
wealth,  the  beauty,  the  growing  power, 
the  convictions  of  right  and  of  duty  are 
with  us.  Who  are  you,  wandering,  drift 
ing,  shifting,  fusing,  dividing,  half  Breck- 
inridge,  half  Douglas,  now  here,  now 
there  [swaying  his  figure  from  side  to 
side], —  who  are  you?  Abolition  chokes 
in  your  throat!  For  us  it  always  thun 
ders  on  the  right;  and  you — on  which 
side  do  you  hear  the  thunder?  Take 
this  city — and  in  it  the  churches,  the 
schoolhouses,  the  pretty  women,  the 
good,  are  on  our  side.  [Laughter.] 
With  you,  if  you  want  your  cotton 
cleaned,  you  come  to  us  for  cotton-gins. 
I  do  not  mean  to  cast  any  reproach  upon 
the  people  of  the  South.  They  are  a 
hospitable,  a  generous  people.  There 

113 


Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

are  disunionists  among  them,  it  is  true, 
but  the  masses  are  sound,  and  I  know 
they  do  love  the  country — God  bless 
them! — the  whole  country.  But  in  much 
that  makes  up  national  greatness  and 
excellence,  they  are  lamentably  deficient. 
In  deep  philosophy,  in  inspired  poetry, 
they  are  lacking.  The  books  we  write, 
they  read,*  the  lectures  we  deliver,  they 
hear;  Bancroft  and  Prescott  write  their 
history  for  them;  Bryant  and  Longfellow 
write  their  poetry.  [Applause.]  Even 
where  despotism  is  rife,  ideas  of  personal 
liberty  are  thriving.  Even  under  the 
shadow  of  the  throne  of  Russia;  on  the 
banks  of  the  Seine,  where  the  ashes  of 

*"We  can  imagine  what  a  passionate  tumult  must 
have  been  excited  by  the  propositions  [of  Madame  de 
Stael]  that  literature  has  relations  most  intimate  and 
most  essential  to  public  virtue,  liberty,  glory,  and  felicity; 
that  a  law  of  progression  is  imposed  on  human  destiny, 
raising  the  level  of  manners  and  of  literature  from  epoch 
to  epoch ;  that  this  progression  is  indefinite,  and  advances 
with  the  growth  of  institutions — that  is  to  say,  with  the 
tendency  to  republican  government  and  republican  man 
ners,  and  will  have  for  its  distinctive  character  the 
triumph  of  the  serious  spirit  of  the  North  over  the  frivo 
lous  spirit  of  the  South."— Vinet's  Studies  upon  the  French 
Literature  of  the  Nineteenth  Century. 

114 


The  American  Theater  Speech. 

the  first  Napoleon  repose;  where  the 
British  Queen  in  majestic  dignity  pre 
sides  over  a  nation  of  freemen — every 
where  abroad,  the  great  ideas  of  personal 
liberty  spread,  increase,  fructify.  Here— 
ours  is  the  exception!  In  this  home  of 
the  exile,  in  this  land  of  constitutional 
liberty,  it  is  left  for  us  to  teach  the 
world  that  slavery  marches  in  solemn 
procession!  that  under  the  American 
stars  slavery  is  protected,  and  the  name 
of  freedom  must  be  faintly  breathed,  the 
songs  of  freedom  be  faintly  sung!  Gari 
baldi,  Victor  Emanuel,  hosts  of  good  men 
are  praying,  fighting,  dying  on  scaffolds, 
in  dungeons,  oftener  yet  on  battle-fields, 
for  freedom;  and  yet  while  this  great 
procession  moves  under  the  arches  of 
liberty,  we  alone  shrink  back  trembling 
and  afraid  when  freedom  is  but  men 
tioned!  [Terrific  cheers.] 

[While  the  people  were  cheering,  a 
Mr.  Hart,  who  sat  on  the  platform,  ap 
parently  carried  away  with  enthusiasm, 

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Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

rushed  to  the  footlights,  and  with  ex 
tended  arms  and  loud  voice,  exclaimed, 
"It  is  true!  it  is  true!  We  are  slaves, 
compared  to  the  rest  of  the  world." 
Then,  pale  as  a  ghost,  he  staggered  back 
to  his  seat,  the  people  continuing  to  cheer 
vociferously.  The  orator,  meanwhile,  was 
consulting  a  friend  as  to  the  time.  He 
had  been  speaking  an  hour  and  a  half.] 

The  interest  of  the  South  is  identical  — 
the  slave  interest  belongs  to  the  whole 
of  it  in  common,  and  alone.  Our  inter 
ests  are  diversified;  they  lie  in  cattle, 
stocks,  lands,  manufactures;  but  all  are 
connected  with  free  labor.  Whatever 
great  measure  comes  before  the  nation 
develops  the  hostility  of  -the  South,  be 
cause  it  conflicts  with  their  one  interest. 
The  Pacific  Railroad  is  a  striking  ex 
ample.  We  have  been  children  of  the 
dispersion;  longing  and  lingering,  with 
eyes  turned  to  the  East,  which  many 
of  us  shall  never  see  again.  We  have 
prayed  and  sighed  for  a  railroad;  we 

116 


The  American  Theater  Speech. 

have  studied  the  whole  matter  through; 
we  have  showed  how  States  would  spring 
up  along  its  route;  we  have  demonstrated 
how  it  might  be  built  and  where;  we 
have  pointed  out  the  reasons  why  we 
ought  to  enjoy  the  benefits  of  a  ready 
communication  with  the  East.  Pierce 
professed  to  recommend  the  road;  Bu 
chanan  professed  to  recommend  it.  "VYe 
have  asked  for  bread,  and  they  have 
given  us  a  stone;  for  fish,  and  they  have 
given  us  a  serpent.  Even  while  I  am 
speaking,  a  Breckinridge  convention  in 
Virginia  is  resolving  against  any  railroad, 
in  any  way.  If,  four  years  ago,  we  had 
elected  Fremont,  in  four  months  after,  he 
would  have  recommended  a  railroad,  and 
would  have  sent  two  regiments  of  dra 
goons  in  the  meanwhile  to  tramp  the 
track.  [Cheers.]  He  would  not  have 
recommended  a  mere  military  road,  but 
a  railroad  at  once.  He  would  have  had 
no  constitutional  scruples  himself,  and 
would  not  have  tolerated  them  in  any 
117 


Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

one  else.  He  would  not,  as  this  man 
has  done,  have  hesitated  because  some 
body  said  that  Mason,  or  Toombs,  or 
somebody  else,  did  not  like  it.  There 
is  not  a  more  incorruptible  man  in  the 
world,  I  believe,  than  Fremont;  but  if 
anybody  had  been  corrupted,  I  assure 
you  it  would  have  been  in  favor  of  and 
not  against  the  railroad.  [Laughter  and 
applause.] 

We  are  running  a  man  now  by  the 
name  of  Lincoln  [cheers]  who  will  do 
the  same  thing.  He  is  an  honest,  good, 
simple-minded,  true  man,  who  is  a  hero 
without  knowing  it.  If  he  recommends 
a  railroad, —  and  he  will, —  he  won't 
twaddle  about  it.  But  his  hands  must 
be  upheld  and  strengthened  by  you. 
You  must  send  men  to  Congress  who 
will  not  feel  that  the  "peculiar  institu 
tion"  is  the  only  institution  there  is. 

But  what  is  true  of  the  sentiments  of 
the  South  toward  a  railroad,  is  true  also 
of  a  homestead.  What  does  she  care  for 
118 


The  American  Theater  Speech. 

a  homestead?  She  never  expects  to  use 
it.  What  does  she  care  about  a  cordon 
of  homes  stretched  from  the  Missouri  to 
the  Bocky  Mountains,  and  from  the  Kocky 
Mountains  to  the  Sierra  Nevada?  She 
is  in  another  line  of  business.  See  Vir 
ginia,  once  the  mother  of  Presidents  and 
statesmen,  now  engaged  in  slave-breed 
ing! —  rearing  little  niggers  to  send 
farther  South!  She  cares  nothing  about 
a  homestead.  But  the  German  immigrant 
does — the  men  from  Norway  and  Sweden 
do.  Our  interests  are  not  hers, — at  least, 
they  are  not  the  interests  of  her  slave 
holders, — and  they,  so  long  as  they  can 
control  them,  will  give  the  votes  of  fifteen 
slave  States  against  a  homestead.  But 
there  is  coming  a  change.  One  day  this 
month  Oregon  elected  a  Kepublican  Sen 
ator;  and  the  next  day  her  Democratic 
Legislature  instructed  him  to  vote  for  a 
homestead  law.*  [Cheers.] 

*This  statement  seems  a  little  artful,  and  may  be  ex 
plained.  If  it  could  be  said  that  the  Oregon  Legislature 
was  Democratic,  it  was  yet  the  same  body  which  elected 

119 


Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

Now,  when  we  get  the  power, —  as  we 
will, — we  propose  to  interfere  with  no 
Constitutional  compacts;  we  shall  organ 
ize  no  John  Brown  raids;  if  some  John 
Brown  should  go  down  and  whip  Vir 
ginia,  and  get  hung  for  it,  it  shall  not  be 
our  fault,  but  his  misfortune;  and  while 
we  stand  by  and  let  them  hang  the  John 
Browns,  we  shall  take  the  hint,  follow 
the  wholesome  example,  and  hang  every 
traitor  who  sets  to  work  in  earnest  to 
dissolve  the  Union.  [Applause.]  But  the 
majority  must  rule,  and  that  is  the  end 
of  the  whole  matter.  [Laughter.] 

But  here  somebody  recovers  his  wits 
and  seems  to  address  me — "Colonel 

Baker  Senator.  The  latter,  defeated  in  California  in 
November,  1859,  removed  to  Oregon  in  February,  1860. 
The  Legislature  of  that  State  convened  in  the  following 
September,  being  divided  into  three  nearly  equal  ele 
ments,— Douglas  Democrats,  Administration  Democrats, 
and  Republicans,  the  first  named  leading  slightly.  There 
were  two  Senators  to  be  chosen  —one  for  a  term  of  which 
a  year  and  a  half  had  expired,  and  one  for  a  full  term  of 
six  years  from  the  4th  of  March  next  coming.  By  a 
combination  between  the  Douglas  Democrats  and  the 
Republicans,  Nesmith  and  Baker  were  elected,  Baker 
taking  the  place  already  vacant,  and  proceeding  at  once 
to  Washington  via  ^'an  Francisco. 
120 


The  American  Theater  Speech. 

Baker,  what  say  you  at  Se ward's  'irre 
pressible  conflict'?"  Why,  this:  If  Mr. 
Seward  had  that  opinion,  I  think  he  did 
right  to  express  it.  And,  I  apprehend, 
it  *s  your  opinion,  too.  [Laughter.]  You 
don't  think  slavery  is  going  to  last  for 
ever.  God  is  too  good  for  that.  A  thou 
sand  years  are  as  one  day  in  his  sight, 
and  it  may  take  some  time  for  slavery 
utterly  to  decay!  I  hope  disease  won't 
last  always;  I  don't  know  that  death  will. 
I  very  much  doubt  if  slavery  will.  You 
Breckinridge  men,  if  there  is  a  little  vein 
of  piety  in  you,  inherited  from  your 
mother  [laughter],  even  you  must  hope 
that  slavery  will  be  abolished  some  day. 
Henry  Clay — and  he  was  no  Abolitionist 
— used  to  felicitate  himself  that,  by  the 
freed  slaves  of  our  land,  civilization  would 
yet  be  carried  to  the  banks  of  the  Niger. 
Bead  Pope's  "Messiah" — I  don't  know 
that  Pope  was  an  Abolitionist — though 
inspired  poets  are  apt  to  be.  [Applause.] 
Homer  was,  Shakespeare  was,  the  Bible 
121 


Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

was, — and  Pope  would  be  in  very  good 
company  if  he  was.  So  long  as  there 
is  a  slave  and  a  master  in  the  world,  the 
slave's  heart  will  throb  for  freedom.  Edu 
cate  him,  and  he  will  fight  for  it;  nerve 
him,  and  he  will  die  for  it;  and  you,  to 
save  your  soul,  can't  help  saying  "Hurrah 
for  the  weaker  side!"  [Cheers.]  I  would 
shoulder  my  rifle  to  suppress  insurrec 
tion;  and  yet  in  my  own  impulses,  in  the 
depth  of  my  own  reflection,  I  feel  that  if 
Mr.  Seward,  looking  forward  with  the  eye 
of  statesmanship  and  philosophy,  said  the 
conflict  was  irrepressible,  God  go  with 
him!  I  indorse  the  sentiment.  [Tremen 
dous  cheers.] 

But  my  inquiring  friend  forgets  how 
Mr.  Seward  qualified  the  remark — that 
it  was  by  and  under  the  Constitution, 
and  not  otherwise,  that  the  conflict  was 
to  go  on.  And  at  last  it  is  but  the  opinion 
of  a  great  philosopher  and  statesman 
referring  the  matter  to  an  all-wise  Provi 
dence. 

122 


The  American  Theater  Speech. 

Up  in  my  country  we  often  see  men 
afraid  of  being  suspected  of  sympathiz 
ing  too  much  with  the  negro.  One  was 
saying  there  the  other  day  "I  ain't  one  of 
your  d — d  Abolitionists;  why,  my  uncle 
had  a  nigger."  [Laughter.]  Now,  I  am 
very  willing  to,  and  I  will  confess  —  I 
have  a  sympathy  with  the  negro  race,  with 
all  slaves,  with  all  who  are  in  sorrow 
and  misfortune — and  would  to  God  I 
could  deliver  them  all!  [Applause.]  I 
have  sympathy  with  a  man  who  has  a 
scolding  wife,  or  a  smoky  chimney,  or  the 
fever  and  ague;  though  I  might  not 
advise  my  friend  to  whip  his  wife,  or 
pull  down  his  chimney,  or  take  arsenic  for 
his  fever  and  ague — nor  do  I  feel  myself 
bound  to  run  a  tilt  to  free  all  negroes. 
When  I  go  to  church,  and  the  preacher 
says,  "Have  mercy  upon  all  men!"  I 
don't  respond,  "Good  Lord!  upon  all 
white  men!"  They  make  the  mistake  of 
supposing  that  if  we  have  human  feelings, 
we  are  plotting  against  them.  We  live 

123 


Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

in  a  land  of  constitutional  law.  What 
ever  is  nominated  in  the  bond,  we  abide. 
If  I  own  ten  thousand  cattle,  worth  one 
hundred  thousand  dollars,  I  have  but 
one  vote,  and  that  is  my  own.  If  another 
owns  one  hundred  negroes,  worth  one 
hundred  thousand  dollars,  he  has  sixty 
votes;  the  ownership  of  five  negroes  con 
veys  the  right  of  three  votes — equals  the 
representative  power  of  three  white  men. 

That  is  hard,  but  it  is  in  the  bond,  and 
we  abide  it.  It  is  hard  to  compel  me 
to  give  up  to  slavery  a  man  on  your 
simple  affidavit  that  he  is  a  slave.  But 
it  is  in  the  compact,  and  we  stand  it. 

There  need  be  no  fear  of  intestine 
feuds;  there  need  be  no  threats  of  dis 
union.  In  the  presence  of  God, — I  say 
it  reverently, — freedom  is  the  rule,  and 
slavery  the  exception.  It  is  a  marked, 
guarded,  perfected  exception.  There  it 
stands !  If  public  opinion  must  not  touch 
its  dusky  cheek  too  roughly,  be  it  so; 
but  we  will  go  no  further  than  the  terms 

124 


The  American  Theater  Speech. 

of  the  compact.  We  are  a  city  set  on  a 
hill.  Our  light  cannot  be  hid.  As  for 
me,  I  dare  not,  I  will  not  be  false  to  free 
dom!  [Applause.]  Where  in  youth  my 
feet  were  planted,  there  my  manhood 
and  my  age  shall  march.  I  will  walk 
beneath  her  banner.  I  will  glory  in  her 
strength.  I  have  seen  her,  in  history, 
struck  down  on  a  hundred  chosen  fields 
of  battle.  I  have  seen  her  friends  fly 
from  her;  I  have  seen  her  foes  gather 
around  her;  I  have  seen  them  bind  her 
to  the  stake ;  I  have  seen  them  give  her 
ashes  to  the  winds,  regathering  them  that 
they  might  scatter  them  yet  more  widely. 
But  when  they  turned  to  exult,  I  have 
seen  her  again  meet  them  face  to  face, 
clad  in  complete  steel,  and  brandishing 
in  her  strong  right  hand  a  flaming  sword 
red  with  insufferable  light!  [Vehement 
cheering.]  And  I  take  courage.  The 
Genius  of  America  will  at  last  lead  her 
sons  to  freedom!  [Great  applause.] 
People  of  California!  you  meet  soon, 

125 


Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

as  is  your  custom  every  four  years,  to 
conduct  a  peaceful  revolution.  There  is 
no  danger  here.  Disunion  is  far  away. 
The  popular  heart  is  right.  It  is  a  plain, 
honest,  simple  duty  you  have  to  perform. 
All  the  omens  are  good,  and  the  best  of 
omens  is  a  good  cause.  On  the  Pacific 
coast  we  have  labored  long;  we  have  been 
scoffed,  beleaguered,  and  beset.  One 
year  ago,  I,  your  champion,  in  your  fair 
State,  my  own  State  then,  was  beaten  in 
a  fair  contest!  With  my  heart  somewhat 
bruised,  my  ambition  crushed,  one  week 
later  I  stood  by  the  body  of  my  friend 
Broderick,  slaughtered  in  your  cause, 
and  I  said  "How  long?"  [Sensation.] 
The  tide  is  turned.  The  warrior,  indeed, 
rests.  He  knows  no  waking;  nor  word, 
nor  wish,  nor  prayer,  can  call  him  from 
his  lone  abode.  I  speak  to  those  who 
loved  him;  and  in  another  and  higher 
arena  I  shall  try  to  speak  for  him  [a  rum 
ble  of  applause,  increasing  at  last  to  a 
great  demonstration],  and  I  shall  say 

126 


The  American  Theater  Speech. 

that  the  people  who  loved  him  so  well, 
and  among  whom  his  ashes  rest,  are  not 
forgetful  of  the  manner  of  his  life,  or  the 
method  of  his  death. 

People  of  San  Francisco!  you  make 
me  very  happy  and  very  proud.  Your 
kind  words  cheer,  as  they  have  often 
cheered  before.  Another  State,  generous 
and  confiding  beyond  any  man's  deserts, 
has  placed  me  where  I  may  serve  both 
her  and  you.  And  now,  thanking  you 
again  and  again,  I  bid  you  a  cordial, 
affectionate,  heartfelt  farewell.  [The 
whole  audience  arose  and  cheered  and 
cheered  again.  It  was  half  after  ten, 
and  the  orator  had  spoken  two  hours 
and  a  quarter.] 


127 


THE    REPLY    TO    BENJAMIN 


ONLY  ten  days  were  to  intervene  between  the  delivery 
of  the  American  Theater  speech  and  the  Presidential 
election,  but  the  speech  was  at  once  put  in  type  and  scat 
tered  over  the  State  as  a  campaign  document.  Abraham 
Lincoln's  election  as  President  followed,  Baker's  two  States 
voting  for  him.  The  new  Senator  proceeded  to  Washing 
ton  City,  and  was  sworn  in  on  Wednesday,  the  5th  of 
December,  1860,  for  an  unexpired  term  to  end  on  tho  3d 
of  March,  1865.  It  was  under  the  caption  of  "New  Sena 
tor"  that  the  official  "Congressional  Globe"  recorded  the 
fact  of  his  qualification,  Senator  Latham,  of  California, 
presenting  his  credentials.  Just  four  weeks  later,  on 
Wednesday,  the  2d  of  January,  1861,  in  the  new  arena  of 
his  fame,  he  made  the  first  of  his  two  remarkable  and 
celebrated  "Replies"  — the  "Reply  to  Benjamin."  No 
intelligent  visitor,  uninformed  on  the  point,  could  have 
mistaken  him  for  a  "new  Senator"  then.  He  was  never 
more  fluent  and  self-possessed,  and  commanded  the  undi 
vided  attention,  the  unqualified  admiration,  of  the  Senate 
from  beginning  to  end.  Indeed,  this  reply,  and  that  to 
Breckinridge,  that  was  soon  to  follow,  are  among  the 
most  powerful  performances  in  debate  in  the  history  of 
the  American  Congress. 

It  was  in  the  closing  days  of  the  last  Congress  before 
the  War  of  the  Rebellion.  The  Southern  Senators  and 
Representatives  were  beginning  to  leave  their  seats.  In 
sixty  days  President  Lincoln  was  to  be  inaugurated,  and, 
in  sixty  more,  the  South  was  to  be  in  open  revolt,  and  the 
country  in  actual  war.  Messrs.  Slidell  and  Benjamin  of 
Louisiana  were  to  withdraw  from  the  Senate  on  February 
5th.  On  December  13th,  Senator  Johnson,  of  Tennessee, 
(who  became  President  in  1865,)  had  offered  a  joint  reso 
lution,  proposing  certain  amendments  to  the  Constitution. 
These  provided  that  the  President  and  Vice-president 

131 


Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

should  be  chosen  by  the  people,  by  Congressional  districts, 
each  district  to  have  one  vote.  The  resulting  debate, 
\vhich  covered  a  period  of  weeks,  was  directed,  generally, 
to  the  critical  condition  of  the  country.  Senator  Benja 
min  concluded  a  great  speech  on  the  subject,  on  the  clos 
ing  day  of  the  year.  Senator  Baker  took  the  floor  to  reply 
on  January  2d. 

At  the  morning  hour  appointed  for  Baker  to  begin  his 
speech  Senator  Gwin,  of  California,  reminded  the  Senate 
that  the  bill  passed  by  the  lower  house  for  a  Pacific  rail 
road,  would  come  up  at  two  o'clock  that  afternoon,  as  the 
special  order  of  the  day;  and  he  said  that  perhaps  the 
Oregon  Senator  would  not  be  able  to  conclude  before  that 
hour. 

Senator  Douglas,  of  Illinois,  who  had  given  notice  of 
a  speech  by  him  for  the  following  day,  also  suggested  that 
he  and  the  Oregon  Senator  might  clash.  There  was  con 
siderable  discussion  as  to  what  should  be  the  order  of 
precedence,  which  Baker  interrupted  to  say:— 

"I  did  not  quite  hear  what  the  honorable  Senator 
from  California  said  upon  the  subject  of  the  Pacific  rail 
road  bill,  which  I  understand  to  be  the  special  order  for 
to-day  at  two  o'clock ;  but,  coming  from  the  Pacific  coast, 
I  feel  it  my  duty  to  say,  promptly  and  decidedly,  that  I 
cannot  feel  for  an  instant  that  any  word  of  mine  for  the 
Union  and  the  perpetuity  of  free  government  on  this  con 
tinent  can  compare  in  importance  or  value  with  the 
Pacific  railroad  bill,  which,  in  my  judgment,  is  an  act 
tending  to  make  perpetual  the  union  of  these  States. 
Therefore,  I  yield  any  pretension  that  I  may  have  to  the 
floor  now,  at  two  o'clock,  at  any  time,  or,  if  need  be, 
forever,  that  that  bill  may  pass." 

It  was  then  Thursday.  It  was  moved  that  the  special 
order  be  postponed  to  Saturday,  and  that  the  floor  be 
reserved  for  Senator  Douglas  on  Monday.  During  the  dis 
cussion  Senator  Trumbull,  of  Illinois,  who  knew  what 
was  in  the  old  Illinois  Whig,  showed  much  concern  lest 
something  should  occur  to  postpone  for  some  days,  or 
perhaps  indefinitely,  the  delivery  of  the  expected  effort. 

132 


The  Reply  to  Benjamin. 

He  said  in  plain  terms,  that  certain  Senators  were  wasting 
time.  Baker  again  arose,  and  with  that  delightful  urban 
ity  that  was  one  of  his  principal  forces,  said:— 

"Quite  unused  to  the  courtesies  of  the  Senate,  and 
quite  willing  to  submit  to  its  habit,  I  feel  myself  entirely 
unable  to  discuss  these  questions  of  precedence  or  regu 
larity,  and  profess  myself  totally  indifferent  at  what  time 
I  speak,  or  when  I  speak,  or  really  whether  I  speak  at  all. 
I  will  give  way  to  the  Senator  from  Illinois,  or  the  Senator 
from  California,  or  to  the  Pacific  railroad  bill.  I  submit 
myself  entirely  to  the  courtesy  and  justice  of  the  Senate." 

The  plan  to  clear  the  way  for  Baker  was  at  length 
agreed  to  unanimously.  He  took  the  floor,  and  entertained 
the  Senate  with  the  best  speech  it  had  heard  (in  the  judg 
ment  of  many  discriminating  minds)  since  the  days  of 
Webster.  Not  until  then  did  his  warmest  admirers  on  the 
Pacific  know  of  the  rapidity  of  his  mental  processes.  He 
promptly  grasped  the  scepter  in  debate.  He  spoke  then, 
as  on  lesser  occasions,  in  that  atmosphere  of  enthusiasm 
in  which  he  lived.  He  stood  an  intellectual  master  in 
that  great  presence,  and  every  mind  deferred  to  his  per 
suasive  authority. 


133 


THE    KEPLY    TO    BENJAMIN. 

MB.  PRESIDENT,  the  adventurous  trav 
eler  who  wanders  on  the  slopes  of  the 
Pacific,  and  on  the  very  verge  of  civili 
zation,  stands  awestruck  in  that  great 
chasm  formed  by  the  torrent  of  the  Co 
lumbia,  as,  rushing  between  Mount  Hood 
and  Mount  St.  Helen's,  it  breaks  through 
the  ridges  of  the  Cascade  Mountains  to 
find  the  sea.  Nor  is  his  wonder  lessened 
when  he  hears  his  slightest  tone  repeated 
and  re-echoed  with  a  larger  utterance  in 
reverberations  that  lose  themselves  at 
last  amid  the  surrounding  and  distant 
hills.  So  I,  standing  on  this  spot,  and 
speaking  for  the  first  time  in  this  cham 
ber,  reflect  with  astonishment  that  my 
feeblest  word  is  re-echoed,  even  while  I 
speak,  to  the  confines  of  the  Eepublic. 
I  trust,  sir,  that  in  so  speaking,  in  the 
midst  of  such  an  auditory,  and  in  the 

135 


Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

presence  of  great  events,  I  may  remember 
all  the  responsibility  these  impose  upon 
me  to  perform  my  duty  to  the  Constitu 
tion  of  the  United  States,  which  I  have 
sworn  to  support,  and  to  be  in  no  wise 
forgetful  of  my  obligation  to  the  whole 
country,  of  which  I  am  a  devoted  and 
affectionate  son. 

It  is  my  purpose  to  reply,  as  I  may, 
to  the  speech  of  the  honorable  and  dis 
tinguished  Senator  from  the  State  of 
Louisiana.  I  do  so  because  it  is,  in  my 
judgment  at  least,  the  ablest  speech  which 
I  have  heard,  perhaps  the  ablest  I  shall 
hear,  upon  that  side  of  the  question; 
because  it  is  respectful  in  tone  and  ele 
vated  in  manner;  and  because,  while  it 
will  be  my  fortune  to  differ  from  him 
upon  many — nay,  most — of  the  points  to 
which  he  has  addressed  himself,  it  is  not, 
I  trust,  inappropriate  for  me  to  say  that 
much  of  what  he  has  said,  and  the  manner 
in  which  he  has  said  it,  has  tended  to 
increase  the  personal  respect — nay,  I 

136 


The  Reply  to  Benjamin. 

may  say,  the  admiration — which  I  have 
learned  to  feel  for  him.  And  yet,  sir, 
while  I  say  this,  I  am  reminded  of  the 
saying  of  a  great  man — Dr.  Johnson,  I 
believe — who,  when  he  was  asked  for 
his  critical  opinon  upon  a  book  just  then 
published,  and  which  was  making  a  great 
sensation  in  London,  said:  "Sir,  the 
fellow  who  has  written  that  has  done 
very  well  what  nobody  ought  ever  to  do 
at  all." 

The  entire  object  of  the  speech  is,  as  I 
understand  it,  to  offer  a  philosophical 
and  Constitutional  disquisition  to  prove 
that  the  Government  of  these  United 
States  is,  in  point  of  fact,  no  government 
at  all ;  that  it  has  no  principle  of  vitality ; 
that  it  is  to  be  overturned  by  a  touch, 
dwindled  into  insignificance  by  a  doubt, 
dissolved  by  a  breath ;  not  by  maladmin 
istration  merely,  but  in  consequence  of 
organic  defects,  interwoven  with  its  very 
existence. 

But,  sir,  this  purpose  —  strange  and 
137 


Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

mournful  in  anybody,  still  more  so  in 
him — this  purpose  has  a  terrible  signifi 
cance  now  and  here.  In  the  judgment  of 
the  honorable  Senator,  the  Union  is  this 
day  dissolved ;  it  is  broken  and  disinte 
grated;  civil  war  is  a  consequence  at 
once  necessary  and  inevitable.  Standing 
in  the  Senate  chamber,  he  speaks  like  a 
prophet  of  woe.  The  burden  of  the  pre 
diction  is  the  echo  of  what  the  distin 
guished  gentleman  now  presiding  in  that 
chair  has  said  before  —  [Mr.  Iverson  in 
the  chair]  —  "  Too  late  !  too  late  !  "  The 
gleaming  and  lurid  lights  of  war  flash 
around  his  brow,  even  while  he  speaks. 
And,  sir,  if  it  were  not  for  the  exquisite 
amenity  of  his  tone  and  his  manner,  we 
could  easily  persuade  ourselves  that  we 
saw  the  flashing  of  the  armor  of  the 
soldier  beneath  the  robe  of  the  Senator. 

My   purpose    is   far    different;    sir,    I 
think  it  is  far  higher.     I  desire  to  con 
tribute   my  poor  argument  to  maintain 
the  dignity,  the  honor  of  the  Government 
138 


The  Reply  to  Benjamin. 

under  which  I  live,  and  beneath  whose 
august  shadow  I  hope  to  die.  I  propose, 
in  opposition  to  all  that  has  been  said, 
to  show  that  the  Government  of  the 
United  States  is  in  very  deed  a  real,  sub 
stantial  power,  ordained  by  the  people, 
not  dependent  upon  States ;  sovereign  in 
its  sphere ;  a  union,  and  not  a  compact 
between  sovereign  States ;  that,  according 
to  its  true  theory,  it  has  the  inherent 
capacity  of  self-protection ;  that  its  Con 
stitution  is  a  perpetuity,  beneficent, 
unfailing,  grand;  and  that  its  powers 
are  equally  capable  of  exercise  against 
domestic  treason  and  against  foreign  foes. 
Such,  sir,  is  the  main  purpose  of  my 
speech;  and  what  I  may  say  additional 
to  this,  will  be  drawn  from  me  in  reply 
to  the  speech  to  which  I  propose  now  to 
address  myself. 

Sir,  the  argument  of  the  honorable 
Senator  from  Louisiana  is  addressed 
first — I  will  not  say  mainly — to  establish 
the  proposition  that  the  State  of  South 

139 


Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

Carolina,  having,  as  he  says,  seceded,  has 
seceded  from  this  Union  rightfully ;  and, 
sir,  just  here  he  says  one  thing,  at  least, 
which  meets  my  hearty  approval  and 
acquiescence.  He  says  he  does  not  deem 
it — such  is  the  substance  of  the  remark 
— unwise  or  improper  to  argue  the  right 
of  the  case  even  now  and  here.  In  this 
I  agree  with  him  most  heartily. 

Eight  and  duty  are  always  majestic 
ideas.  They  march  an  invisible  guard 
in  the  van  of  "all  true  progress ;  they 
animate  the  loftiest  spirit  in  the  pub 
lic  assemblies;  they  nerve  the  arm  of 
the  warrior ;  they  kindle  the  soul  of  the 
statesman  and  the  imagination  of  the 
poet;  they  sweeten  every  reward;  they 
console  every  defeat.  Sir,  they  are  of 
themselves  an  indissoluble  chain,  which 
binds  feeble,  erring  humanity  to  the 
eternal  throne  of  God.  I  meet  the  dis 
cussion  in  that  spirit.  I  defer  to  that 
authority. 

I  observe,  sir,  first,  that  the  argument  of 

140 


The  Reply  to  Benjamin. 

the  gentleman,  from  beginning  to  end,  is 
based  upon  the  assumption  that  the  Con 
stitution  of  the  United  States  is  a  compact 
between  sovereign  States.  I  think  I  in 
no  sense  misapprehend  it;  I  am  sure  such 
cannot  be  my  desire.  I  understand  him, 
throughout  the  whole  tone  of  his  speech, 
to  maintain  that  proposition  —  that  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States  is  a  com 
pact  between  sovereign  States.  Arguing 
from  thence,  he  arrives  at  the  conclusion 
that  being  so,  a  compact,  when  broken 
by  either  of  the  other  States,  or  by  the 
General  Government,  the  creature  of  the 
Constitution,  South  Carolina  or  Louisiana 
may  treat  the  compact  as  broken,  the 
contract  as  rescinded;  may  withdraw 
peacefully  from  the  Union,  and  resume 
her  original  condition. 

I  remark  next,  that  this  proposition  is 
in  no  wise  new ;  and  perhaps  for  that,  as 
it  is  a  Constitutional  proposition,  it  is 
all  the  better;  and  again,  the  argument 
by  which  the  honorable  Senator  seeks 

141 


Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 


to  maintain  it  is  in  no  wise  new  in  any 
of  its  parts.  I  have  examined  with  some 
care  the  arguments  hitherto  made  by 
great  men,  the  echoes  of  whose  eloquence 
yet  linger  under  this  dome;  and  I  find 
that  the  proposition,  the  argument,  the 
authority,  the  illustration,  are  but  a 
repetition  of  the  famous  discussion  led 
off  by  Mr.  Calhoun,  and  growing  out 
of  the  attempt  of  South  Carolina  to 
do  before  what  she  says  she  has  done 
now. 

If  the  proposition  is  not  new,  and  if  the 
arguments  are  not  strange,  it  will  not  be 
wonderful  if  the  replies  partake  of  the 
like  character.  I  deny,  as  Mr.  Webster 
denied;  I  deny,  as  Mr.  Madison  denied; 
I  deny,  as  General  Jackson  denied,  that 
this  Union  is  a  compact  between  sovereign 
States  at  all;  and  so  denying,  I  meet  just 
here  the  authorities  which  the  honorable 
Senator  has  chosen  to  quote.  They  are, 
substantially,  as  follows:  first,  not  the 
Constitution  itself  (and  that  is  remark- 

142 


The  Reply  to  Benjamin. 

able);  second,  not  the  arguments  made 
by  the  great  expounders  of  the  Constitu 
tion  directly  upon  this  question,  and  on 
this  floor;  but  mainly  fugitive  expres 
sions,  sometimes  hasty,  not  always  con 
sidered,  upon  propositions  not  germane 
to  the  controversy  now  engaging  us  to-day; 
and  when  made,  if  misapprehended,  cor 
rected  again  and  again  in  after  years.  To 
illustrate :  the  gentleman  from  Louisiana 
has  quoted  at  considerable  length  from 
the  debates  in  the  convention  which 
formed  the  Federal  Constitution;  he  has 
quoted  the  opinions  of  Mr.  Madison,  and 
to  those  who  have  not  looked  into  the 
question  it  might  appear  as  if  those 
opinions  were  really  in  support  of  his 
proposition  that  this  is  a  compact  between 
sovereign  States.  Now,  sir,  to  show  that 
that  is  in  no  sense  so,  I  will  read,  as  a 
reply  to  the  entire  quotations  of  the  opin 
ions  of  Mr.  Madison,  what  Mr.  Madison 
himself  said  upon  that  subject  upon  the 
fullest  consideration  in  the  world.  I 

143 


Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

proceed  to  read  what  I  suppose  to  be  at 
once  argument  and  authority  upon  that 
question — I  read  the  letter  of  Mr.  Madi 
son  to  Mr.  Webster,  dated  March  15, 1833. 

[Letter  read.] 

Mr.  President,  I  submit  to  the  candor 
of  the  Senator  from  Louisiana  that  this 
is  distinct,  positive,  unequivocal  author 
ity  to  show  that,  so  far  as  the  opinions 
of  Mr.  Madison  were  concerned,  he  did 
not  believe  that  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States  was  a  compact  between 
sovereign  States;  but  that  he  did  believe 
it  was  a  form  of  government  ordained  by 
the  people  of  the  United  States. 

Again:  Mr.  Webster  is  quoted.  I 
expected,  when  I  heard  Mr.  Webster 
named,  to  find  that  the  honorable  Sena 
tor  would  allude  to  the  great  discussion 
which  his  genius  had  rendered  immortal. 
He  does  not  do  that;  but  refers  specifi 
cally  to  a  passage  of  Mr.  Webster's  in 
an  argument  in  the  Supreme  Court,  I 
believe,  upon  a  question  arising  as  to 

144 


The  Reply  to  Benjamin. 

boundary  between  Massachusetts  and 
Rhode  Island. 

Mr.  BENJAMIN.  If  the  Senator  will 
permit,  he  is  mistaken.  The  question 
that  arose  there  was  in  relation  to  the 
power  of  the  people  of  Ehode  Island  to 
constitute  a  new  government,  not  a  ques 
tion  of  boundary.  I  allude  to  his  argu 
ment  in  the  celebrated  Dorr  controversy. 

Mr.  BAKEK.  I  feel  obliged  to  the  Sen 
ator  for  his  correction;  and  I  beg  leave 
to  say  that  the  mistake  perhaps  is  not 
a  very  unnatural  one  in  me,  living  so 
many  thousand  miles  away;  for,  really, 
Rhode  Island,  though  very  patriotic,  is 
so  very  small  that  I  do  not  quite  keep 
up  with  her  history  as  I  ought.  It  is  no 
sort  of  difference  whether  Mr.  Webster 
made  the  speech  on  a  boundary  ques 
tion  or  on  a  rebellion  question;  the 
speech  was  made.  My  criticism  upon 
the  quotation  is  this :  It  has  no  relation 
whatever  to  the  controvesy  now  here,  or, 
if  it  has,  it  is  so  remote  and  indistinct 

145 


Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

that  it  becomes  him  and  me  alike,  to 
refer  to  what  Mr.  Webster  really  did 
say  directly  upon  the  controversy  itself. 
Now,  I  take  the  liberty  of  reading  Mr. 
Webster's  views,  as  expressed  and  consid 
ered  by  himself.  I  read  from  Mr.  Web 
ster's  works,  volume  three,  page  464: — 

"  And  now,  sir,  against  all  these  theories  and  opinions, 
I  maintain  — 

"  1.  That  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  is  not 
a  league,  confederacy,  or  compact  between  the  people  of 
the  several  States  in  their  sovereign  capacities;  but  a 
government  proper,  founded  on  the  adoption  of  the  peo 
ple,  and  creating  direct  relations  between  itself  and  indi 
viduals. 

"2.  That  no  State  authority  has  power  to  dissolve 
these  relations ;  that  nothing  can  dissolve  them  but  revo 
lution  ;  and  that  consequently  there  can  be  no  such  thing 
as  secession  without  revolution. 

"  3.  That  there  is  a  supreme  law,  consisting  of  the  Con 
stitution  of  the  United  States,  and  acts  of  Congress  passed 
in  pursuance  of  it,  and  treaties;  and  that  in  cases  not 
capable  of  assuming  the  character  of  the  suit  in  law  or 
equity,  Congress  must  judge  of,  and  finally  interpret,  this 
supreme  law  so  often  as  it  has  occasion  to  pass  acts  of 
legislation ;  and  in  cases  capable  of  assuming,  and  actually 
assuming,  the  character  of  a  suit,  the  Supreme  Court  of 
the  United  States  is  the  final  interpreter." 

Now,  I  submit  again  to  the  candor  of 
the  honorable  and  distinguished  gentle 
man,  that  there  is  the  positive,  unmistak- 

146 


The  Reply  to  Benjamin. 

able  evidence  of  Mr.  Webster,  so  far  as 
his  own  opinion  goes;  that  this  is  not, 
according  to  his  proposition,  a  compact 
between  sovereign  States;  but  it  is  a 
government  made  and  ordained  by  the 
people  of  the  whole  United  States;  a 
government  capable  of  acting  directly 
upon  individuals,  and  made  by  individ 
uals.  And,  sir,  it  is  remarkable  that 
these  propositions  of  Mr.  Webster  grew 
out  of  his  desire  to  contradict  the  affirma 
tive  propositions  of  Mr.  Calhoun,  upon 
which  the  debate  grew  up.  I  read 
them: — 

"The  first  two  resolutions  of  the  honorable  member, 
[says Mr.  Webster,]  affirm  these  propositions,  namely"— 

And  they  are  propositions  sought  to  be 
enforced  by  the  distinguished  Senator 
from  Louisiana — 

"  1.  That  the  political  system  under  which  we  live,  and 
under  which  Congress  is  now  assembled,  is  a  compact,  to 
which  the  people  of  the  several  States,  as  separate  and 
sovereign  communities,  are  the  parties. 

"  2.  That  these  sovereign  parties  have  a  right  to  j  udge, 
each  for  itself,  of  any  alleged  violation  of  the  Constitu 
tion  by  Congress,  and  in  case  of  such  violation,  to  choose, 
each  for  itself,  its  own  mode  and  measure  of  redress." 

147 


Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

There,  sir,  is  the  right  of  secession 
upon  the  one  hand,  or  at  least  of  nullifi 
cation;  and  I  may  say  here,  once  for  all, 
the  difference  between  nullification  and 
secession  is  just  this:  secession  bears 
the  same  relation  to  nullification  that 
biography  bears  to  history,  somebody 
having  wittily  said  that  history  was 
biography  with  its  brains  knocked  out. 
I  understand  that  nullification  is  just 
secession  with  its  brains  knocked  out; 
and  every  argument  applying  to  the 
one  applies  to  the  other.  So  much  for 
the  second  authority  upon  which  the 
distinguished  Senator  from  Louisiana 
relies. 

I  now  come  to  the  third;  and  I  trust 
he  will  allow  me  to  correct  for  him  what 
I  know  was  an  oversight,  or,  at  least,  an 
entire  misapprehension.  The  honorable 
gentleman  from  Louisiana,  during  the 
course  of  his  speech,  remarked,  as  I 
remember  it,  that  a  valued  friend  had 
placed  in  his  hands  a  paper,  from  which 
148 


The  Reply  to  Benjamin. 

lie  read,  purporting  to  be  the  opinion  of 
John  Quincy  Adams  upon  this  question 
of  the  right  of  a  State  to  secede.  I  did 
not  understand  him  as  reading  from  a 
manuscript  of  his  own  copy,  but  from  a 
paper  placed  in  his  hands,  and  perhaps 
about  the  moment,  by  somebody  else. 

Mr.  BENJAMIN.  So  far  as  that  is  con 
cerned,  the  paper  that  I  read  from  was 
sent  to  me  as  I  read  it,  from  a  valued 
friend  from  New  York.  As  to  the  speech 
of  Mr.  Adams,  of  course  I  cannot  tell 
anything  about  it;  I  have  never  seen  it. 

Mr.  BAKER.  The  reason  why  I  say 
this  it  is  proper  to  state  here.  It  is  a 
remarkable  fact  that  of  all  the  passages 
ever  written  by  John  Quincy  Adams,  of 
all  the  passages  ever  written  by  anybody 
from  the  beginning  of  the  world,  that 
passage,  taken  altogether,  part  of  which 
was  read  by  the  honorable  Senator  from 
Louisiana,  is  the  passage,  of  all  others, 
which  maintains  the  doctrine  of  the 
oneness  of  this  Government,  its  unity, 

149 


Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

its  creation  by  the  people,  its  ordination 
by  them  as  one  government,  and  an  entire 
annihilation  of  the  whole  doctrine  of 
secession.  The  difficulty  was  this:  that 
the  gentleman  who  furnished  it,  and  who 
caused  the  unwitting  reading  of  it,  I 
have  no  doubt,  in  its  mutilated  condition, 
by  the  Senator  from  Louisiana,  omitted 
the  most  remarkable  part  of  the  whole 
passage;  and  it  is  more  remarkable  in 
this — it  is  for'  that  reason  I  hasten  to 
acquit  my  distinguished  friend  of  any 
knowledge  of  the  misapprehension — that 
it  is  in  the  very  same  paragraph;  and 
there  had  to  be  in  that  paragraph  this 
very  same  process  of  separation  and  dis 
union  which  is  getting  to  be  fashionable 
nowadays,  to  make  it  bear  upon  the 
Senator's  view  of  the  question  at  all. 
I  will  read  it.  It  begins  in  this  wise : — 

"  In  the  calm  hours  of  self-possession,  the  right  of  a 
State  to  nullify  an  act  of  Congress  is  too  absurd  for  argu 
ment,  and  too  odious  for  discussion.  The  right  of  a  State 
to  secede  from  the  Union  is  equally  disowned  by  the  prin 
ciples  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence." 

150 


The  Reply  to  Benjamin. 

Now,  sir,  there  follows  after  that  the 
passage  read  by  the  distinguished  gen 
tleman.  It  is  a  passage,  as  I  understand 
it,  incorporated  in  his  speech,  which  pre 
sents  the  opinion  of  Mr.  Adams  that 
there  may  be  extreme  cases  in  which  a 
State  or  a  community  has  a  right  to 
revolutionize.  So  much  for  the  third 
authority  quoted  by  the  distinguished 
Senator. 

Now,  speaking  of  authorities,  let  me 
add  once  more,  that  this  speech  of  Mr. 
Adams,  entitled  the  Jubilee  of  the  Con 
stitution,  delivered  by  him  with  all  his 
exhaustive  power  as  to  any  subject  to 
which  he  turned  his  attention,  is,  in  point 
of  fact,  an  irresistible  argument  in  favor 
of  our  proposition  that  the  Constitution 
of  the  United  States  is  an  ordained  gov 
ernment  by  the  people  for  the  govern 
ment  of  the  people,  and  that  it  is  in  no 
sense,  and  can  never  be,  taken  or  consid 
ered  as  a  compact  between  sovereign 
States.  Nay,  sir,  throughout  the  whole 

151 


Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

course  of  that  speech  he  goes  much  fur 
ther.  He  argues  with  great  power,  and 
with  great  historical  research,  to  show 
that  not  only  is  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States  a  government  formed  by 
the  people  and  not  a  compact  between 
States,  but  that  the  old  Confederation, 
prior  to  the  Constitution,  was  intended 
to  be  that  form  of  government  also;  that 
really  the  people  of  the  thirteen  revolt 
ing  or  revolutionary  colonies  intended, 
even  at  the  time  of  the  Declaration  of 
Independence,  preceding  both  the  Con 
stitution  and  the  Confederation,  to  form 
tiien  a  united  government  of  one  com 
mon  people. 

And  yet  once  more,  sir,  I  quote  from 
General  Jackson.  It  is  an  authority  which 
I  trust  the  distinguished  gentleman  will 
revere.  As  I  have  said,  South  Carolina 
attempted  to  do  once  before  what  it  is 
said  she  has  accomplished  now.  There 
was  then  a  President  of  the  United 
States  determined  to  do  his  whole  duty. 

152 


The  Reply  to  Benjamin. 

Whether  there  be  now,  I  leave  others  to 
determine:  — 

"The  States  severally  have  not  retained  their  entire 
sovereignty.  It  has  been  shown  that  in  becoming  parts 
of  a  nation,  not  members  of  a  league,  they  surrendered 
many  of  their  essential  parts  of  sovereignty.  The  right 
to  make  treaties,  declare  war,  levy  taxes,  exercise  exclu 
sive  judicial  and  legislative  powers,  were  all  functions  of 
sovereign  power.  The  States,  then,  for  all  these  important 
purposes,  were  no  longer  sovereign.  The  allegiance  of 
their  citizens  was  transferred  in  the  first  instance  to  the 
Government  of  the  United  States;  they  became  Ameri 
can  citizens,  and  owed  obedience  to  the  Constitution  of 
the  United  States." 

Another  mistake  which  (speaking  with 
great  deference)  I  think  is  obvious 
throughout  the  whole  speech  of  the  Sen 
ator  from  Louisiana,  is  the  assumption, 
not  only  that  the  Constitution  is  a  com 
pact,  but  that  the  States  parties  to  it  are 
sovereigns.  Sir,  they  are  not  sovereigns; 
and  this  Federal  Government  is  not  sov 
ereign.  Paraphrasing  the  Mahometan 
expression,  "There  is  but  one  God,"  I 
may  say,  and  I  do  say,  not  without  rev 
erence,  there  is  but  one  sovereign,  and 
that  sovereign  is  the  people.  The  State 
government  is  its  creation;  the  Federal 

153 


Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

Government  is  its  creation;  each  supreme 
in  its  sphere ;  each  sovereign  for  its  pur 
pose;  but  each  limited  in  its  authority, 
and  each  dependent  upon  delegated 
power.  Why,  sir,  can  that  State — either 
Oregon  or  South  Carolina — be  sovereign 
which  relinquishes  the  insignia  of  sov 
ereignty,  the  exercise  of  its  highest 
powers,  the  expression  of  its  noblest 
dignities  ?  Not  so.  We  can  neither  coin 
money,  nor  levy  impost  duties,  nor  make 
war  nor  peace,  nor  raise  standing  armies, 
nor  build  fleets,  nor  issue  bills  of  credit. 
In  short,  sir,  we  cannot  do — because  the 
people,  as  sovereigns,  have  placed  that 
power  in  other  hands — many,  nay,  most, 
of  those  things  which  exhibit  and  pro 
claim  the  sovereignty  of  a  State  to  the 
whole  world.  Mr.  Webster  has  well 
observed  that  there  can  be  in  this  coun 
try  no  sovereignty  in  the  European  sense 
of  sovereignty.  It  is,  I  believe,  a  feudal 
idea.  It  has  no  place  here.  I  repeat, 
we  are  not  sovereign  here.  They  are 

154 


The  Reply  to  Benjamin. 

not  sovereign  in  South  Carolina;  they 
are  not,  and  cannot  be  in  the  nature  of 
the  case;  and  therefore  all  assumptions 
and  all  presumptions  arising  out  of  the 
proposition  of  sovereignty — supremacy 
upon  the  part  of  a  State — is  a  fallacy 
from  beginning  to  end. 

Again,  sir:  Mr.  Calhoun,  in  the  course 
of  that  celebrated  argument,  in  well- 
chosen  words,  insisted  that  the  States  in 
their  sovereign  capacity,  acceded  to  a 
compact.  Mr.  Webster  replied  with  his 
usual  force.  The  word  "accede"  was 
chosen  as  the  converse  of  "secede";  the 
argument  being  intended  to  be  that  if 
the  State  accedes  to  a  compact  she  may 
secede  from  that  compact.  But,  said  Mr. 
Webster, — and  no  man  has  answered  the 
argument,  and  no  man  ever  will, — it  is 
not  an  accession  to  a  compact  at  all;  it  is 
not  the  formation  of  a  league  at  all ;  it  is 
the  action  of  the  people  of  the  United 
States  carrying  into  effect  their  purpose 
from  the  Declaration  of  Independence 

155 


Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

itself,  manifested  in  the  ordination  and 
establishment  of  a  government,  and  ex 
pressed  in  their  own  emphatic  words  in 
the  preamble  of  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States  itself. 

In  arguing  upon  the  meaning  and 
import  of  the  Constitution,  I  had  hoped 
that  a  lawyer  so  distinguished  as  the 
gentleman  from  Louisiana,  would  have 
referred  to  the  terms  of  that  document  to 
have  endeavored  at  least  to  find  its  real 
meaning  from  its  force  and  mode  of 
expression.  In  the  absence  of  such  a 
quotation,  I  beg  leave  to  remind  him 
that  the  Constitution  itself  declares  by 
whom  it  was  made,  and  for  what  it  was 
made.  Mr.  Adams,  reading  it,  declares 
that  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States 
was  the  work  of  one  people — the  people 
of  the  United  States — and  that  those 
United  States  still  constitute  one  people; 
and  to  establish  that,  among  other  things, 
he  refers  to  the  fact — the  great,  the  patent, 
the  glorious  fact — that  the  Constitution 

156 


The  Reply  to  Benjamin. 

declares  itself  to  have  been  made  by  the 
people,  and  not  by  sovereign  States,  but 
by  the  people  of  the  United  States;  not 
a  compact,  not  a  league,  but  it  declares 
that  the  people  of  the  United  States 
do  ordain  and  establish  a  government. 
Now,  I  ask  the  distinguished  Senator, 
what  becomes  of  this  iteration  and  reit 
eration,  that  the  Constitution  is  a  com 
pact  between  sovereign  States  ? 

Pursuing  what  I  think  is  a  defective 
mode  of  reasoning  from  beginning  to 
end,  the  distinguished  Senator  from 
Louisiana  quotes  Vattel,  and  for  what? 
To  prove  what,  as  I  understand,  nobody 
denies  —  that  a  sovereign  State,  being 
sovereign,  may  make  a  compact,  and  after 
wards  withdraw  from  it.  Our  answer 
to  that  is,  that  South  Carolina  is  not  a 
sovereign  State;  that  South  Carolina  has 
not  made  a  compact,  and  that,  therefore, 
it  is  not  true  that  she  can  withdraw  from 
it;  and  I  submit  that  all  these  disqui 
sitions  upon  the  nature  of  European 

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Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

sovereignty,  or  any  of  those  forms  of 
government  to  which  the  distinguished 
author  which  he  has  quoted  had  his  obser 
vation  attracted,  is  no  argument  whatever 
in  a  controversy  as  to  the  force  and  mean 
ing  of  our  Constitution  bearing  upon 
States,  sovereign  in  some  sense,  not  sov 
ereign  in  others,  but  bearing  most  upon 
individuals  in  their  individual  relations. 

But  the  object  of  the  speech  was  two 
fold.  It  was  to  prove,  first,  that  this 
Union  was  a  compact  between  States,  and 
that,  therefore,  there  was  a  rightful 
remedy  for  injury,  intolerable  or  other 
wise,  by  secession.  Now,  sir,  I  confess 
in  one  thing  I  do  not  understand  this 
speech,  although  it  be  clearly  written  and 
forcibly  expressed.  Does  the  Senator 
mean  to  argue  that  there  is  such  a  thing 
as  a  Constitutional  right  of  secession? 
Is  it  a  right  under  the  Constitution,  or  is 
it  a  right  above  it  and  beyond  it  ? 

Mr.  BENJAMIN.  I  do  not  know  whether 
the  Senator  desires  an  answer  now. 

158 


The  Reply  to  Benjamin. 

Mr.  BAKER.     Yes,  sir;  now. 

Mr.  BENJAMIN.  Well,  sir,  I  will  take 
example  from  gentlemen  on  the  other 
side,  and  I  will  answer  his  question  by 
asking  another. 

Mr.  BAKER.     Do,  sir. 

Mr.  BENJAMIN.  I  will  ask  him  if  the 
State  of  South  Carolina  were  refused 
more  than  one  Senator  on  this  floor, 
whether  she  would  have  a  right  to  with 
draw  from  the  Union,  and  if  so,  whether 
it  would  arise  out  of  the  Constitution  or 
not. 

Mr.  BAKER.  Now,  Mr.  President,  I 
will  do  what  the  distinguished  Senator 
from  Louisiana  has  not  done:  I  will 
answer  the  question.  [Laughter.]  He 
asks  me  whether  if  the  State  of  South 
Carolina,  sending  two  Senators  here  loy 
ally,  with  affectionate  reverence  for  the 
Constitution,  were  denied  the  admission 
of  one,  or,  if  you  like,  of  both,  it  would  be 
cause  for  withdrawal.  I  understand  that 
to  be  the  question.  Sir,  I  reply:  that 

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Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

would  depend  upon  several  things  yet  to 
be  stated  and  determined:  First,  I  think 
South  Carolina  ought  to  inquire  what  is 
the  cause  of  that  refusal.  I  believe  this 
body  is  the  judge  of  the  qualification  of 
its  own  members.  If  the  Senator  was 
disqualified,  or  if  in  any  fair  judgment 
or  reasonable  judgment  we  believed  he 
ought  not  to  occupy  a  seat  upon  this  floor, 
surely  it  would  not  be  cause  of  with 
drawal,  or  secession,  or  revolution,  or 
war,  if  we  were  to  send  him  back. 

But,  sir,  I  will  meet  the  question  in 
the  full  spirit  in  which  I  suppose  it  is 
intended  to  put  it.  It  is  this :  the  right  of 
representation  is  a  sacred  right.  If  that 
right  is  fraudulently  and  pertinaciously 
denied,  has  the  State  to  which  it  is  denied 
a  right  to  secede  in  consequence  thereof  ? 
I  answer,  the  right  of  representation  is 
a  right,  in  my  judgment,  inalienable.  It 
belongs  to  all  communities,  and  to  all 
men.  It  is  of  the  very  nature  and  essence 
of  free  government;  and  if,  by  force,  by 

160 


The  Reply  to  Benjamin. 

despotism  of  the  many  over  the  few,  it 
is  denied,  solemnly,  despotically,  of  pur 
pose,  the  intolerable  oppression  resulting 
from  that  may  be  repelled  by  all  the 
means  which  God  and  nature  have  put 
in  our  hands.  Is  the  honorable  Senator 
answered  ? 

Mr.  BENJAMIN.     Not  yet. 

Mr.  BAKEK.     What,  sir  ? 

Mr.  BENJAMIN.  I  was  saying  to  the 
Senator,  not  yet.  I  asked  him  whether 
he  denied  the  fact  that,  in  the  supposed 
case,  which  he  has  very  fairly  met,  the 
right  to  withdraw  resulted  from  the 
breach  of  the  agreement  in  the  Constitu 
tion,  and  would  be  a  right  growing  out 
of  the  violation  of  the  Constitution, 
independent  of  the  question  of  oppres 
sion  at  all  ? 

Mr.  BAKER.  Well,  sir,  I  beg  leave  to 
say,  in  answer  to  that,  that  is  not  the 
question  the  honorable  Senator  put  to 
me,  but  I  will  answer  that.  The  right 
of  South  Carolina  to  withdraw,  because 

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Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

the  fundamental  right  of  representation 
is  denied  her,  is  the  right  of  revolution, 
of  rebellion.  It  does  not  depend  upon 
Constitutional  guarantees  at  all.  It  is 
beyond  them,  above  them,  and  not  of 
them.  Now,  is  the  Senator  answered  ? 

Mr.  BENJAMIN.  I  am  fully  answered. 
I  am  only  surprised  at  the  answer. 

Mr.  BAKER.  Now,  will  the  distin 
guished  Senator  answer  me  ? 

Mr.  BENJAMIN.  "With  pleasure.  Will 
the  Senator  state  his  question  once  more  ? 

Mr.  BAKER.  Is  there  such  a  thing  as 
a  Constitutional  right  of  South  Carolina 
to  secede  ? 

Mr.  BENJAMIN.  I  thought,  Mr.  Presi 
dent,  that  my  proposition  on  that  subject 
could  not  be  mistaken.  I  hold  that  there 
is,  from  the  very  nature  of  the  Constitu 
tion  itself,  from  the  theory  upon  which  it 
is  formed,  a  right  in  any  State  to  withdraw 
from  the  compact,  if  its  provisions  are 
violated  to  her  detriment. 

Mr.  BAKER.     Well  now,  sir,  I   under- 

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The  Reply  to  Benjamin. 

stand  what  I  did  not  quite  understand 
before, — no  doubt  it  was  owing  to  my 
obtuseness, — that  the  gentleman  contends 
that  there  is  in  the  State  of  South  Caro 
lina  a  right  to  secede,  to  use  his  own 
words,  in  the  very  nature  of  the  Consti 
tution  itself. 

Mr.  BENJAMIN.  Eesulting  from  the 
very  nature  of  the  compact,  which  I  con 
sider  the  Constitution  to  be. 

Mr.  BAKER.  But  that,  Mr.  President, 
is  not  what  the  Senator  did  say.  I 
press  him  on  this  point  again.  Does  the 
right  to  secede  spring  out  of  and  belong 
to  the  Constitution.  And  if  so,  where  ? 
I  am  a  strict  constructionist. 

Mr.  BENJAMIN.  I  am,  too;  and  if  the 
Senator  will  admit  with  me,  what  I 
suppose  he  will  scarcely  deny,  that  the 
States  have  reserved  to  themselves  under 
the  Constitution,  by  express  language, 
every  right  not  expressly  denied  to  them 
by  the  Constitution,  I  say  that  he  will 
find  in  the  ninth  and  tenth  amendments 

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Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

to  the  Constitution  the  recognition  of  the 
very  right  which  I  claim. 

Mr.  BAKEB.  Well,  sir,  the  answer  to 
that  is  just  this:  that  we  have  been 
endeavoring  to  show — and  I  think  irre 
sistibly — that,  so  far  from  its  being  true 
that  the  States  do  reserve  to  themselves 
in  the  Constitution  all  rights  not  dele 
gated  by  it,  they  do  not  reserve  any 
thing,  for  they  are  not  parties  to  it;  and 
there  is  no  such  thing  as  a  reservation 
by  the  States  at  all.  The  instrument  is 
made  by  the  people;  and  the  reserva 
tions,  if  any,  are  made  by  the  people, 
not  the  States. 

Mr.  BENJAMIN.  If  I  am  not  intruding 
upon  the  Senator's  line  of  argument  or 
time — and  if  I  am  I  will  not  say  another 
word 

Mr.  BAKEE.     Not  at  all. 

Mr.  BENJAMIN.  I  ask  the  Senator 
whether,  after  the  Constitution  had  been 
framed,  amendments  were  not  proposed 
by  nearly  all  the  States  and  adopted,  for 

164 


The  Reply  to  Benjamin. 

the  very  purpose  of  meeting  that  con 
struction  for  which  he  is  now  contending 
— for  the  very  purpose  of  maintaining 
the  proposition  against  which  he  now 
argues?  His  idea  is  that  the  Constitu 
tion  of  the  United  States  formed  a  gov 
ernment  over  the  whole  people  as  a  mass. 
The  amendments  state  distinctly  that  that 
was  not  the  meaning  of  the  Constitution; 
but  that,  on  the  contrary,  it  was  a  delega 
tion  of  power  by  the  States,  and  that  the 
States  and  the  people  of  the  States 
reserved  to  themselves  all  powers  not 
expressly  delegated. 

Mr.  BAKER.  "The  powers  not  dele 
gated  to  the  United  States  by  the  Con 
stitution,  nor  prohibited  by  it  to  the 
States,  are  reserved  to  the  States  respect 
ively,  or  to  the  people," — that  is  the 
amendment.  Now,  in  answer,  I  say  that, 
in  full  light  of  that  amendment,  every 
authority  which  I  have  read,  every  argu 
ment  at  which  I  have  glanced,  from  Jack 
son,  from  Madison,  from  Webster,  from 

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Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

Adams,  all  unite  in  the  proposition  that 
still  this  is  a  government  made  by  the 
people  of  the  United  States  in  their  char 
acter  of  people  of  the  States,  being  one 
government  by  them  ordained. 

Mr.  BENJAMIN.  Will  the  Senator  be 
good  enough  to  allow  me  to  call  his  at 
tention  to  the  seventh  and  last  article  of 
the  Constitution,  "  The  ratification  of  the 
conventions  of  nine  States  shall  be  suffi 
cient  for  the  establishment  of  this  Con 
stitution  between  the  States  so  ratifying 
the  same," — not  read  the  preamble,  but 
the  bargain. 

Mr.  BAKER.     Where  shall  I  find  it,  sir? 

Mr.  BENJAMIN.  In  the  very  last  article 
of  the  Constitution. 

Mr.  BAKER.  I  am  not  sure  that  I  un 
derstand  the  force  of  the  distinction  which 
the  honorable  gentleman  makes  between 
the  preamble  and  the  Constitution  itself. 
Following  the  example  of  Mr.  Webster, 
I  love  to  read  the  whole  instrument  to 
gether  ;  but  I  will  answer  the  Senator : — 

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The  Reply  to  Benjamin. 

"The  ratification  of  the  conventions  of  nine  States 
shall  be  sufficient  for  the  establishment  of  this  Constitu 
tion  between  the  States  so  ratifying  the  same." 

Mr.  BENJAMIN.     "Between  the  States." 

Mr.  BAKEE.  Mr.  President,  what  are 
the  conventions  of  nine  States  but  the 
people  of  nine  States?  There  is  the 
answer  at  once.  It  is  not  ratification  by 
the  State  Legislature. 

Mr.  BENJAMIN.  What  is  the  meaning 
of  the  phrase  "  between  the  States"?  Is 
not  that  the  language  of  compact  ? 

Mr.  BAKER.  Well,  it  is  obvious  enough. 
Ratification  is  to  be  done  by  the  people. 
It  is  made  by  the  people  in  the  first  place. 
It  so  proposes.  It  is  to  be  ratified  by 
them  in  the  second  place';  and  being  so 
made  by  them,  and  being  so  ratified  by 
them,  is  binding  upon  the  States,  which 
are  the  governments  of  the  people  that 
ratified  it.  That  is  all.  But,  sir,  the 
Senator  does  not  escape  in  that  way.  I 
ask  him  yet  once  again,  is  the  right  to 
secede  a  right  growing  out  of  the  Consti 
tution  itself?  If  so,  where?  What  is 

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Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

that  provision?  I  repeat,  I  am  a  strict 
constructionist.  He  says  he  is.  I  am  not 
now  going  to  hunt  for  a  vagrant  and  doubt 
ful  power;  but  when  States  propose  to 
secede,  to  dissolve  the  Union,  to  declare 
war,  to  drench  confederated  States  in 
fraternal  blood,  I  ask  if  they  claim  it  as  a 
Constitutional  right  to  take  the  step  that 
will  inevitably  lead  to  that?  I  ask  for  the 
word,  the  page,  the  place,  and  I  meet  no 
reply. 

Mr.  BENJAMIN.  I  again  refer  the  Senator 
to  the  words  and  place.  If  the  right  of 
secession  exists  at  all,  under  any  circum 
stances,  revolutionary  or  not,  it  is  a  State 
right.  Now,  the  question  whether  it 
exists  under  the  Constitution  or  not,  can 
only  be  determined  in  one  way:  first, 
by  examining  what  powers  are  pro 
hibited  to  the  States;  and  next,  whether 
the  powers  not  prohibited  are  reserved. 
This  power  is  nowhere  prohibited;  and 
the  tenth  amendment  declares  that  the 
powers  not  prohibited  by  the  Consti- 

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The  Reply  to  Benjamin. 

tution  to  the  States  are  reserved  to  the 
States. 

Mr.  BAKER.  Mr.  President,  I  do  not 
perceive  the  importance,  nay,  the  profit, 
of  pursuing  that  line  of  inquiry  any  fur 
ther.  I  have  asked  for  the  answer  of  the 
honorable  Senator  to  that  question;  and 
if  with  that  answer  he  is  content,  and  if 
by  that  answer  he  intends  to  abide,  so  be 
it.  I  think  that  we  have  well  disposed 
of  the  right  of  secession  under  the  Con 
stitution  itself.  I  advance  to  another 
proposition. 

I  admit  that  there  is  a  revolutionary 
right.  Whence  does  it  spring?  How  is 
it  limited?  To  these  questions  for  a  mo 
ment  I  address  myself.  Whence  does  it 
spring?  Why,  sir,  as  a  right  in  commu 
nities,  it  is  of  the  same  nature  as  the  right 
of  self-preservation  in  the  individual.  A 
community  protects  itself  by  revolution 
against  intolerable  oppression  under  any 
form  of  government,  as  an  individual 
protects  himself  against  intolerable 

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Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

oppression  by  brute  force.  No  compact, 
no  treaty,  no  constitution,  no  form  of  gov 
ernment,  no  oath  or  obligation  can  deprive 
a  man  or  a  community  of  that  sacred,  ulti 
mate  right.  Now,  sir,  I  think  I  state  that 
proposition  as  fully  as  I  could  be  desired 
to  state  it  by  the  gentleman  upon  the 
other  side.  The  question  that  arises  be 
tween  us  at  once  is :  this  right  of  revolu 
tion  springing  out  of  the  self-preservation 
belonging  to  communities,  as  to  individ 
uals,  must  be  exercised — how?  In  a  case, 
and  in  a  case  only,  where  all  other  reme 
dies  fail;  where  the  oppression  is  grind 
ing,  intolerable,  and  permanent;  where 
revolution  is  in  its  nature  a  fit  redress; 
and  where  they  who  adopt  it  as  a  remedy 
can  do  it  in  the  full  light  of  all  the  exam 
ples  of  the  past,  of  all  the  responsibilities 
of  the  present,  of  all  the  unimpassioned 
judgment  of  the  future,  and  the  ultimate 
determination  of  the  Supreme  Arbiter  and 
Judge  of  all.  Sir,  a  right  so  exercised  is 
a  sacred  right.  I  maintain  it ;  and  I  would 

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The  Reply  to  Benjamin. 

exercise  it.      The  question  recurs:    has 
South  Carolina  that  right? 

I  think  the  honorable  Senator  will  not 
deny  that  one  of  the  gravest  responsibil 
ities  which  can  devolve  upon  a  community 
or  a  State  is  to  break  up  an  established, 
peaceful  form  of  government.  If  that  be 
true  as  an  abstract  proposition,  how  much 
more  does  the  truth  strike  us  when  we 
apply  it  to  the  condition  in  which  we 
found  ourselves  two  months  ago !  South 
Carolina  proposes  now,  according  to  the 
later  doctrine,  to  secede  as  a  revolutionary 
right;  as  a  resistance  against  intolerable 
oppression;  as  an  appeal  to  arms  for  the 
maintenance  of  rights,  for  the  redress  of 
wrongs,  where  the  one  cannot  be  main 
tained  and  the  other  be  redressed  other 
wise.  Now,  sir,  I  demand  of  her  and  of 
those  who  defend  her,  that  she  should 
stand  out  in  the  broad  light  of  history 
and  declare,  if  not  by  the  Senators  that 
she  ought  to  have  on  this  floor,  by  those 
who  league  with  her,  in  what  that  oppres- 

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Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

sion  consists;  where  that  injury  is  in 
flicted  ;  by  whom  the  blow  is  struck ;  what 
weapon  is  used  in  the  attack.  So  much, 
at  least,  we  have  a  right  to  inquire.  After 
we  make  that  inquiry,  permit  me  to  add 
another  thing :  a  State  claiming  to  be  sov 
ereign  and  a  people  part  of  a  great  gov 
ernment  ought  to  act  with  deliberation 
and  dignity;  she  ought  to  be  able  to 
appeal  to  all  history  for  kindred  cases  of 
intolerable  oppression,  and  kindred  occa 
sions  of  magnanimous  revolution. 

Sir,  we  are  not  unacquainted  in  this 
chamber  with  the  history  of  revolutions. 
We  very  well  know  that  our  forefathers 
rebelled  against  the  domination  of  the 
house  of  Stuart.  And  why?  The  causes 
are  as  well  known  to  the  world  as  the 
great  struggle  by  which  they  maintained 
the  right,  and  the  great  renown  which  has 
forever  followed  the  deed.  When  Oliver 
Cromwell  brought  a  traitorous,  false  king, 
and  gave  him,  "  a  dim  discrowned  mon 
arch,"  to  the  block,  he  did  it  by  a  solemn 

172 


The  Reply  to  Benjamin. 

judgment  in  the  face  of  man  and  in  the 
face  of  Heaven,  avouching  the  deed  on 
the  great  doctrine  of  revolutionary  right ; 
and  although  a  fickle  people  betrayed  his 
memory — although  the  traditions  of  mon 
archy  were  as  yet  too  strong  for  the  better 
thought  of  the  English  people — yet,  still, 
now,  here,  to-day,  wherever  the  English 
language  is  read,  wherever  that  historic, 
glowing  story  is  repeated,  the  hearts  of 
brave  and  generous  men  throb  when  the 
deed  is  avouched,  and  justify  the  act. 

Again:  there  was  a  second  revolution 
—  the  revolution  of  1688;  —  and  why? 
Because  a  cowardly,  fanatic,  bigoted  mon 
arch  sought,  by  the  exercise  of  a  power  to 
be  used  through  the  bayonets  of  standing 
armies,  to  repress  the  spirit  and  destroy 
the  liberties  of  a  free  people ;  because  he 
attempted  to  enforce  upon  them  a  re 
ligion  alien  to  their  thought  and  to  their 
hope;  because  he  attempted  to  trample 
under  foot  all  that  was  sacred  in  the  con 
stitution  of  English  government. 
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Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

And,  sir,  in  the  history  of  revolutions 
there  are  examples  more  illustrious  still 
—  perhaps  the  greatest  of  them  all,  that 
revolution  which  ended  in  the  establish 
ment  of  the  Dutch  Republic.  My  honor 
able  and  distinguished  friend,  I  know,  has 
read  the  glowing  pages  of  Motley,  perhaps 
the  most  accurate,  if  not  the  most  bril 
liant,  of  American  historians.  I  am  sure 
that  his  heart  has  throbbed  with  generous 
enthusiasm  as  he  read  the  thrilling  pages  of 
that  story  where  a  great  people,  led  by  the 
heroic  house  of  Orange,  pursued,  through 
danger,  through  sacrifice,  through  blood, 
through  the  destruction  of  property,  of 
homes,  of  families,  and  of  all  but  the  great 
indestructible  spirit  of  liberty,  the  tenor 
of  their  way  to  liberty  and  greatness  and 
glory  at  last.  Sir,  I  need  not  tell  him  the 
oppression  against  which  they  rebelled; 
that  the  intolerable  tyranny  under  which 
they  groaned  was  of  itself  sufficient  not 
only  to  enlist  upon  their  side  and  in  their 
behalf  all  the  sympathies  of  civilized 
174 


The  Reply  to  Benjamin. 

Europe  then,  but  the  sympathies  of  the 
whole  civilized  world  as  they  have  read 
the  story  since. 

Yet  once  more,  in  the  full  light  of  these 
revolutions,  our  forefathors  rebelled 
against  a  tyrant,  declaring  the  causes  of 
the  Revolution,  proclaiming  them  to  the 
world  in  an  immortal  document  that  is 
familiar  to  us  all.  We  recognize  the 
right.  Why?  Because  the  oppression 
was  intolerable;  because  the  tyranny 
could  not  be  borne;  because  the  essen 
tial  rights  belonging  to  every  human 
being  were  violated,  and  that  continually; 
and  in  words  more  eloquent  than  I  could 
use,  or  than  I  have  now  time  to  quote, 
Mr.  Jefferson  proclaimed  them  to  the 
world,  and  gave  the  reasons  which  im 
pelled  us  to  the  separation.  Sir,  I  ask 
the  honorable  Senator  to  bring  his  record 
of  reasons  for  revolution,  bloodshed,  and 
war  here  to-day,  and  compare  them  with 
that  document. 

If,  then,  Mr.  President,  the  controversy 
175 


Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

is  not  upon  the  abstract  right  of  seces 
sion,  nor  upon  the  revolutionary  right  of 
secession  in  a  case  fit  and  proper;  but  if, 
at  last,  it  narrows  itself  down  into  a  dis 
cussion  of  the  reasons  why  South  Carolina 
is  to  revolt,!  propose  to  enter  with  a  little 
minuteness  of  detail  into  the  history  of 
those  reasons.  I  shall  find  them  in 
several  sources:  first,  chiefest,  perhaps 
best,  in  the  speech  now  before  me  of  the 
Senator* from  Louisiana;  secondly,  in  the 
very  impulsive,  very  brilliant  speech  of 
the  honorable  Senator  from  Texas  [Mr. 
Wigfall];  and,  if  I  have  time  to  pursue 
the  search,  perhaps  in  the  speech  of  the 
excited  and  excitable  Senator  from  Geor 
gia  [Mr.  Iverson].  The  gentleman  from 
Louisiana  says  that  not  devoting  very 
much  time  to  the  catalogue,  and  not  giving 
it  with  any  hope  that  it  will  avert  the  issue 
of  arms,  he  will  yet  suggest  some  of  the 
wrongs  and  outrages  which  that  "dreary 
catalogue"  presents,  as  having  happened 
to  the  State  of  South  Carolina.  Before 

176 


The  Reply  to  Benjamin. 

he  does  so,  however,  he  says  that  the 
wrongs  under  which  she  groans,  the  inju 
ries  which  justify  and  demand  revolution, 
are  to  be  found  "  chiefly  in  a  difference 
of  our  construction  of  the  Constitution." 
Sir,  is  not  that  a  "lame  and  impotent 
conclusion"  ?  I  was  astonished.  I  have 
known — again  to  quote  the  words  of  Mr. 
Webster — I  have  known,  perhaps  I  may 
know  again  shortly,  that  there  are  cases 
when  the  war  does  not  always  come  up 
to  the  manifesto;  but  from  the  serious 
ness  with  which  the  distinguished  Sena 
tor  approached  the  subject,  I  did  not 
expect  to  find  a  qualification  which  would 
destroy  the  import  and  force  of  his  cata 
logue  altogether.  Why,  sir,  can  it  be 
that  any  man  in  his  sober  senses  will 
pretend  that  there  can  be  cause  for  revo 
lution,  war,  because  two  parties  in  this 
Government  differ  as  to  their  construc 
tion  of  one  article  in  the  Federal  Con 
stitution  ?  Can  that  be  so  ?  And  yet, 
in  the  face  of  earth  and  Heaven,  I  recall 
177 


Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

the  fact  that  the  honorable  Senator 
declares  that  the  principal  causes  of 
grievance  are  to  be  found  in  a  difference 
in  the  construction  of  one  article  of  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States. 

Mr.  BENJAMIN.  The  Senator  will  par 
don  me.  I  do  not  think  he  will  find 
that  in  anything  I  said. 

Mr.  BAKEK.  Far  be  it  from  me  to 
misrepresent  the  gentleman.  If  I  do 
not  find  it,  I  will  withdraw  what  I  have 
said.  I  quote  his  words,  and  they 
were  words  well  considered,  beautifully 
chosen: — 

"  Before,  however,  making  any  statement  —  that  state 
ment  to  which  we  have  been  challenged,  and  which  I  shall 
make  in  but  very  few  words  — of  the  wrongs  under  which 
the  South  is  now  suffering,  and  for  which  she  seeks  redress, 
as  the  difficulty  seems  to  arise  chiefly  from  a  difference  in 
our  construction  of  the  Constitution,  I  desire  to  read"— 

Something  else.  Now,  sir,  I  ask  him 
whether  I  am  not  justified  in  saying  that 
his  main  ground  of  complaint  in  his 
catalogue  of  dreary  outrages  and  intol 
erable  wrongs,  is  that  that  catalogue  is 
founded,  to  use  his  own  words,  chiefly 
178 


The  Reply  to  Benjamin. 

upon  a  difference  in  a  construction  of 
the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  ? 

Mr.  BENJAMIN.  The  Senator  will  par 
don  me.  He  stated  that  I  had  said  they 
arose  from  a  difference  in  the  construc 
tion  of  one  clause  of  the  Constitution. 

Mr.  BAKER.  Well,  sir,  let  it  be  "two 
rogues  in  buckram,"  or  seven;  the  idea 
is  the  same. 

Mr.  BENJAMIN.  That  is  it.  We  have 
eight  or  ten  grievances;  because  you  all 
construe  the  Constitution  on  the  errone 
ous  principles  you  have  announced  this 
morning. 

Mr.  BAKER.  .  .  .  Now,  sir,  suppose 
we  differed  about  a  dozen  articles  of  the 
Constitution,  what  then  ?  I  read  the  cata 
logue  of  wrongs,  and  I  find,  as  a  lawyer, 
that  they  must  refer  themselves  princi 
pally  to  one.  But  suppose  there  are 
more,  what  then  ?  There  are  some  things 
that  do  not  appear  to  strike  the  honora 
ble  Senator  in  this  connection.  For 
instance,  does  he  remember  that  although 

179 


Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

he  may  have  one  construction  of  the  Con 
stitution,  and  I  may  have  another,  there 
is  between  us  a  supreme  arbiter,  and 
that  upon  every  conceivable  clause  about 
which  we  may  differ,  or  have  differed, 
that  arbiter  has  decided  always  upon 
one  side?  To  begin:  there  have  been 
debates  in  this  Chamber,  and  elsewhere, 
as  to  the  true  construction  of  that  clause 
of  the  Constitution  which  requires  the 
rendition  of  fugitive  slaves.  I  will  use 
that  term.  There  are  very  distinguished 
members  now  upon  this  floor  who  have 
argued  with  great  gravity  and  wisdom 
and  research  and  eloquence,  that  it  was 
intended  that  the  power  of  rendition 
should  be  exercised  by  States.  That 
question,  with  all  questions  kindred  to 
it,  about  which  any  of  us  may  have  dif 
fered,  has  gone  before  the  Supreme  Court 
of  the  United  States,  and  has  been  decided 
against  us,  or  some  of  us,  and  in  favor  of 
the  Constitutionality  of  the  law  as  it  now 
stands;  and  we  have  yielded  to  it,  not 

180 


The  Reply  to  Benjamin. 

a  submission,  but,  a  better  word,  obe 
dience.  Is  not  that  true  ? 

Again,  we  have  differed  in  late  days — 
and  I  am  here  to  show,  directly,  how  late 
that  difference  is,  and  I  trust  I  shall  show 
how  ill-considered — as  to  the  construc 
tion  of  the  Constitution  upon  the  subject 
of  the  government  of  the  Territories. 
That  is  not  a  political  question  merely. 
That  is  capable  of  being  made  the  sub 
ject  of  a  suit  in  law  or  equity,  under 
the  provisions  of  the  Constitution.  That 
has  gone  before  the  Supreme  Court  of 
the  United  States.  There  has  been,  as 
we  all  agree,  a  judgment;  there  has  been, 
as  most  here  contend,  a  decision ;  there  has 
been,  as  everybody  admits,  an  opinion. 
All  three  have  been  adverse  to  us.  Is 
there  in  that  any  cause  of  complaint  ? 

There  are  the  two  points;  and  as  the 
honorable  Senator  asks  me  questions,  I 
will  ask  him  another.  Is  there  any  other 
cause  of  complaint,  except  under  these 
two  clauses  of  the  Constitution,  belong- 

181 


Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

ing  to  the  Constitutional  controversy? 
The  fugitive  slave  law  is  one,  the  right 
to  take  your  slaves  into  the  Territories 
the  other.  Are  there  any  others  ? 

Mr.  BENJAMIN.  Undoubtedly,  Mr. 
President.  I  thought  I  enumerated  six 
on  Monday.  If  the  Senator  will  do  me 
the  honor  to  read  the  complaints  which 
I  made  in  behalf  of  the  South,  he  will 
find  them.  Then,  if  those  are  not  suffi 
cient,  I  can  furnish  half  a  dozen  more. 

Mr.  BAKEE.  Mr.  President,  I  may 
remark  that  those  other  causes  of  griev 
ance  which,  upon  an  occasion  so  solemn 
as  that  presented  by  the  Senator  the 
other  day,  were  not  mentioned  in  that 
category,  were  best  left  unsummed.  If 
they  were  not  of  sufficient  importance  to 
be  enumerated  then,  they  ought  not  to  be 
brought  up  by  way  of  makeweight  now. 
I  hold  him  to  his  record. 

Mr.  BENJAMIN.     Bead. 

Mr.  BAKEE.  I  have  now,  as  I  under 
stand  it,  presented  two  main  causes  of 

182 


The  Reply  to  Benjamin. 

grievance  arising,  as  he  says,  out  of 
defective  Constitutional  construction ; 
and,  although  I  see  many  specifications, 
I  understand  they  are  all  parts  of  two 
charges  arising  out  of  defective  construc 
tion  upon  these  two  points.  For  instance, 
one  of  the  six  charges  is,  that  we  slander 
you.  Surely  we  do  not  do  that  under 
the  Constitution.  We  slander  you,  we 
vilify  you,  we  abuse  you,  you  say.  Well, 
that  is  not  a  Constitutional  difficulty, 
[laughter] ;  and  if  my  distinguished 
friend  will  look  at  his  "  dreary  cata 
logue,"  he  will  find  that,  save  the  two 
which  I  have  mentioned,  the  remainder 
are  but  amplification,  extension  of  griev 
ances,  arising  outside  of  the  Consti 
tution,  from  difference  of  sentiment, 
opinions,  morals,  or  habits,  and  not  the 
cause  of  Constitutional  complaint.  There 
fore,  I  am  not  answered  when  he  says, 
"Look  at  my  catalogue."  I  repeat  once 
more,  to  make  it  still  plainer,  that  there 
are  but  two  Constitutional  causes  of  com- 

183 


Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

plaint:  one  in  regard  to  the  rendition  of 
fugitive  slaves,  the  other  the  government 
of  the  Territories.  The  difficulties  arise 
out  of  those  two  provisions.  All  the 
rest  are  matters  of  sentiment,  of  opinion, 
of  habit,  and  of  morals,  which  neither 
constitutions  nor  laws  can  cause  or  cure. 

Mr.  BENJAMIN.  Mr.  President,  if  the 
Senator  wants  me  to  answer  whether  the 
difficulties  of  which  the  South  complains, 
and  in  consequence  of  which  she  refuses 
any  longer  to  remain  confederated  with 
her  sister  States  at  the  North,  arise 
exclusively  from  violations  of  the  rights 
of  the  South  in  relation  to  her  slave 
property,  I  answer,  yes.  He  may  take 
one,  two,  three,  five,  or  six,  clauses  of  the 
Constitution;  they  all  come  back  to  that 
single  point — your  constant,  persistent 
warfare  upon  our  property,  instead  of 
using  the  powers  of  the  Federal  Govern 
ment  to  protect,  preserve,  and  cherish  it. 

Mr.  BAKEK.  And  thus,  Mr.  President, 
after  questioning  and  cross-questioning, 
184 


The  Reply  to  Benjamin. 

and  exercising  that  power  of  cross-exami 
nation  which  in  courts,  and  I  believe 
elsewhere,  we  sometimes  call  the  test  of 
truth,  I  bring  the  Senator,  as  I  under 
stand  him,  at  last  to  agree  that  when  he 
says  in  his  labored  speech  the  difficulty 
arises  chiefly  out  of  a  defective  construc 
tion  of  the  Constitution  by  us  Black 
Republicans,  or  us  people  of  the  North, 
it  is  to  be  found  upon  two  subjects:  one 
in  relation  to  the  fugitive  slave  question, 
and  the  other  to  the  government  of  the 
Territories. 

Mr.  BENJAMIN.  Not  simply  as  to  fugi 
tive  slaves,  but  all  slaves. 

Mr.  BAKER.  But  that  is  included  in 
this  question  of  territorial  government, 
of  the  Wilmot  Proviso,  of  the  right  of 
the  South  to  take  her  slaves  there,  and 
go  where  she  pleases  and  as  she  pleases. 
These  are  the  questions — 

Mr.  BENJAMIN.  Why,  Mr.  President, 
if  the  Senator  will  look  once  again  at 
what  I  said,  he  will  find  that  it  does  not 

185 


Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

comprise  only  a  reference  to  such  slaves 
as  escape,  but  he  will  find  that  we  refer 
constantly  and  openly  in  debate  to  organ 
ized  and  persistent  efforts  on  the  part  of 
entire  bodies  of  people  at  the  North, 
with  the  connivance,  with  the  secret  aid 
of  their  fellow-citizens,  to  rob  us  of 
our  property — not  simply  not  returning 
such  slaves  as  may  escape,  but  organ 
izing  means  to  take  away  our  property 
and  hide  it  beyond  our  reach,  and 
making  the  fugitive  slave  law  utterly 
valueless,  even  if  it  was  executed,  by 
preventing  our  discovering  even  where 
a  slave  is. 

Mr.  BAKEE.  Mr.  President,  I  reply  to 
that,  that  is  nothing  more  than  brilliant 
amplification.  The  point  that  I  press 
the  Senator  upon  is  this  —  he  has  no 
reply  to  it :  have  you  any  other  difficulty 
with  us  about  Constitutional  construction 
except  upon  two  subjects  ?  I  do  not  ask 
you  now  whether  you  complain  that  we 
rob  you  of  your  slaves.  That  is  not  the 

186 


The  Reply  to  Benjamin. 

point.  Do  we  do  it  under  Constitutional 
construction?  I  repeat:  take  the  whole 
tenor  of  the  speech,  the  complaint,  the 
catalogue,  the  "  dreary  catalogue  ";  it  all 
ends  in  this:  that  there  are  differences 
of  opinion  among  us  of  sentiment.  You 
complain  of  our  bad  morals  and  our 
bad  manners;  you  say  we  rob  you;  you 
say  we  intend  to  establish  a  cordon  of  free 
States  around  you ;  you  say  that  we  are 
persistent  in  what  we  do  on  this  point; 
but  at  last,  in  your  better  and  your  more 
candid  moments,  you  say  that  the 
difficulty  seems  to  arise  chiefly  from 
a  difference  in  our  construction  of  the 
Constitution.  I  add  to  that  (and  you 
will  not  contradict  the  addition),  that  it 
is  a  difference  in  our  construction  of  the 
Constitution  upon  two  subjects  —  first, 
the  rendition  of  fugitive  slaves;  second, 
the  government  of  the  Territories  so  as 
to  exclude  slavery  from  those  Territories 
by  the  power  either  of  the  General  Gov 
ernment  or  the  Territorial  Legislature. 

187 


Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

I  think  we  arrive  clearly  at  the  points 
to  be  debated  between  us. 

Now,  sir,  first,  of  the  fugitive  slave 
law.  What  is  the  construction  that  we 
give  to  the  fugitive  slave  law,  of  which 
the  Senator  complains  ?  I  have  already 
answered  that  question.  We  did  in 
argument  give  a  construction.  We  were 
defeated.  The  question  went  before  the 
Supreme  Court.  We  were  overruled. 
We  have  obeyed  that  decision  loyally  ever 
since.  We  have  never  seriously  endeav 
ored  to  repeal  it;  nor  have  we  as  a  party, 
nor  as  a  North,  endeavored  to  defeat  its 
execution.  Nay,  if  we  had,  that  is  not 
within  the  Senator's  counts,  because  he 
does  not  say  that  the  difficulty  arises  out 
of  malexecution  of  the  fugitive  slave 
law,  but  out  of  the  differences  of  opinion 
between  us  as  to  the  construction  of  the 
Constitution.  Here  I  answer  again,  and 
I  will  quote  Mr.  Lincoln,  about  to  be 
inaugurated  as  President  of  these  United 
States — a  man  who  seeks  to  make  his 

188 


The  Reply  to  Benjamin. 

opinions  known  in  all  proper  ways  and 
upon  all  proper  occasions;  a  man  who, 
for  simplicity  of  purpose,  directness  of 
expression,  is  not  surpassed  in  this  coun 
try;  a  man  whose  honesty  has  already 
worthily  passed  into  a  proverb.  You 
will  find  in  the  history  of  the  debates, 
unsurpassed  in  ability  in  this  country, 
between  the  distinguished  Senator  from 
Illinois  [Mr.  Douglas]  and  the  President 
elect,  that  he  was  asked,  and  for  obvious 
purposes,  what  his  opinion  was  upon 
this  fugitive  slave  law  question,  and  he 
replied  :— 

"  Question.  I  desire  to  know  whether  Lincoln  to-day 
stands,  as  he  did  in  1854,  in  favor  of  the  unconditional 
repeal  of  the  fugitive  slave  law? 

"Answer.  I  do  not  now,  nor  ever  did,  stand  in  favor 
of  the  unconditional  repeal  of  the  fugitive  slave  law." — 
Debates  of  Lincoln  and  Douglas,  p.  88. 

Is  that  clear  and  distinct  ?  And,  sir,  I 
echo  him,  not  because  he  is  President, 
but  because  he  is  honest  and  wise  and  true. 
I,  who  want  nothing  of  him;  I,  who  am 
not,  and  in  no  sense  can  ever  be,  depend 
ent  on  him;  I  reply  with  him;  I,  as  a 


Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

Senator  on  this  floor,  repeating  the  opin 
ion  of  my  constituents,  without  distinction 
of  party  —  I,  too,  say  that  I  am  not,  have 
not  been,  never  will  be,  in  favor  of  the  un 
conditional  repeal  of  the  fugitive  slave  law. 
Again,  sir:  since  the  passage  of  that 
law,  the  Republican  party  has  sprung 
into  existence.  We  have  had  two  politi 
cal  campaigns.  In  one,  untried,  unor 
ganized,  without  reasonable  grounds  for 
hope,  we  astonished  ourselves,  we  aston 
ished  the  country,  by  our  strength.  In 
the  other,  gathering  together  all  the 
irresistible  elements  of  freedom  in  the 
North  and  West,  we  have  gained  a  great 
political  triumph,  which  we  intend  to 
use  wisely,  but  which  we  intend  to  guard 
well.  Have  we,  in  any  platform,  in  any 
resolutions,  by  any  bill,  in  any  way  evinced 
a  disposition  to  repeal  that  fugitive  slave 
law  ?  Do  we  not,  upon  all  fit  occasions, 
say  that,  though  many  of  us  believe  it  is  a 
hard  bargain,  yet  that  it  is  so  "  nominated 
in  the  bond,"  and  we  will  endure  it? 

190 


The  Reply  to  Benjamin. 

Now,  sir,  when  we  make  these  state 
ments  —  we  have  made  them  in  the  can 
vass;  I  make  them  more  deliberately 
now  —  what  is  the  reply  ?  I  know  it  of 
old.  Why,  it  is  said,  "  While  your  plat 
form  does  not  propose  to  repeal  the 
fugitive  slave  law,  there  are  States  which 
pass  personal  liberty  bills."  Will  gen 
tlemen  listen  to  our  calm,  frank,  candid 
reply?  First,  the  sense  of  the  whole 
North  is  opposed  to  nullification,  in  any 
way  or  upon  any  subject.  We  will  yield 
obedience — and  I  have  said  that  it  is 
a  better  word  than  submission — to  any 
provision  of  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States,  as  it  is  construed  by  the 
ultimate  tribunal.  They  have,  as  we 
understand  it,  declared  that  law  to  be 
Constitutional,  and  to  that  decision  we 
yield.  If  there  be  States  which  have 
passed  laws  in  violation  of  it,  preventive 
of  it,  to  hinder,  to  defeat,  to  delay  it, 
in  my  judgment  —  and,  sir,  what  is  of 
infinitely  more  consequence,  in  the 

191 


Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

judgment  of  the  North  and  West  —  those 
laws  ought  to  be  repealed ;  not  because 
South  Carolina  threatens;  not  because 
Louisiana  will  secede:  but  because  we 
desire  to  yield  obedience  to  those  highest 
obligations,  right  and  duty,  of  which  I 
made  mention  in  the  commencement  of 
this  argument. 

But,  sir,  the  honorable  and  distin 
guished  gentleman  upon  the  other  side 
knows  very  well  that  there  is  very  seri 
ous  and  grave  debate  whether  those  laws 
are  in  any  sense  unconstitutional.  We 
are  told  that  some  of  them  were  made 
before  the  fugitive  slave  law,  bearing 
upon  other  questions  and  directed  to 
other  objects.  We  are  told  that  the  pro 
visions  of  many  of  them  are  provisions 
intended  to  guard  and  secure  personal 
liberty,  independent  of  any  question  as 
to  the  fugitive  slave  law.  But  whether 
that  be  so  to  any  extent,  or  to  what 
extent,  we  say  that  if  it  shall  be  proved 
before  any  competent  tribunal,  and  most 

192 


The  Reply  to  Benjamin. 

of  all,  before  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
United  States,  that  those  laws,  or  any  of 
them,  in  any  of  their  provisions,  do  hin 
der,  delay,  defeat  the  execution  of  that 
law,  "  reform  it  altogether."  Sir,  speak 
ing  in  my  place,  with  some  knowledge 
of  the  Eepublican  party,  speaking  by 
no  authority  in  the  world  for  the  Presi 
dent  elect,  but  speaking  of  him  because 
I  have  known  him  from  my  boyhood,  or 
nearly  so,  I  say  that,  when  the  time 
arrives  that  he  shall  be  inaugurated  in 
this  capital,  and  exercise  in  the  chair  of 
the  Chief  Magistrate  all  the  high  respon 
sible  duties  of  that  office,  he  will  enforce 
the  execution  of  all  the  laws  of  this 
Government,  whether  revenue,  or  fugitive 
slave,  or  territorial,  or  otherwise,  with 
the  whole  integrity  of  his  character  and 
the  whole  power  of  the  Government. 
Now,  I  ask  my  distinguished  friend  if  that 
is  not  a  fair,  frank  reply  to  all  the  objec 
tions  he  may  make  as  to  differences  of 
construction  about  the  fugitive  slave  law  ? 


Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

Mr.  BENJAMIN.  If  the  Senator  wants 
the  answer  now — 

Mr.  BAKER.  Certainly,  sir;  let  the 
blow  fall  now. 

Mr.  BENJAMIN.  It  is  not  at  all  satis 
factory;  not  in  the  remotest  degree. 

Mr.  BAKER.  My  honorable  friend  will 
not  say  that  that  is  a  reply.  If  I  were 
in  court,  or  elsewhere,  and  not  in  so 
grave  a  body  as  the  Senate  of  the  United 
States,  I  would  quote  two  very  celebrated 
lines  in  reply  to  that,  to  the  effect  that  those 
who  suffer  from  the  law  do  not  always 
have  a  good  opinion  of  it;  but  I  refrain. 
I  repeat  that,  in  the  judgment  of  reason 
able  men,  that  is  an  answer,  and  a  full 
and  complete  answer  to  the  objection 
made  against  us,  that  you  are  going  to 
secede  because  of  any  difference  of 
opinion  between  us  as  to  the  construc 
tion  of  the  provisions  of  the  Constitution 
and  our  duty  about  the  fugitive  slave  law. 

There  are  some  other  observations 
with  which  I  beg  leave  to  detain  the 

194 


The  Reply  to  Benjamin. 

Senate,  however,  upon  that  subject. 
That  can  scarcely  be  considered  one  of 
the  objections;  first,  because  the  State 
of  South  Carolina  herself,  through  her 
only  authorized  expositor,  the  Charleston 
Mercury,  declares,  and  has  declared,  that 
she  believes  the  fugitive  slave  law  to  be 
unconstitutional  anyhow.  One  of  the 
most  distinguished  of  her  sons,  Mr. 
Ehett,  repeats  and  emphasizes  the  same 
remark.  A  distinguished  gentleman,  the 
Senator  from  Georgia,  lately  occupying 
the  chair,  not  now  in  it,  [Mr.  Iverson,] 
has  said  lately  upon  this  floor  that  the 
South  does  not  complain  of  any  construc 
tion  which  the  North  gives  to  that  law; 
nay,  more,  that  the  law  is  well  made, 
carefully  guarded,  just  to  the  South, 
and,  so  far  as  the  Federal  Government  is 
concerned,  properly  executed. 

Now,  sir,  can  that  be  the  ground  of 
complaint  about  which  South  Carolina 
is  going  out?  Will  she  separate  the 
bonds  that  have  bound  us  together  for 

195 


Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

more  than  seventy  years,  because  she 
does  not  think  that  we  quite  perfectly 
obey  a  law  which  she  herself,  in  the 
person  of  her  most  distinguished  ser 
vants,  declares  to  be  unconstitutional? 
Not  so,  sir.  Or  will  Georgia  follow  the 
illustrious  example  of  South  Carolina, 
and  desert  the  Republic,  when  her  rep 
resentative  on  this  floor  declares  that 
upon  that  subject  the  North  performs 
all  its  obligations  ?  These  are  questions 
which  I  leave  to  their  honor  and  their 
dignity  to  decide. 

The  Senator  from  Louisiana  tells  me 
that  the  Southern  people  have  agreed 
that  slavery  may  be  prohibited.  How? 
Sir,  in  passing  the  Missouri  Compromise 
bill,  they  did  not  merely  agree  to  do  it— 
the  act  of  Congress  is  not  a  mere  evi 
dence  to  be  used  in  a  court  of  honor  that 
the  people  of  Louisiana  will  not  inter 
fere  with  the  bargain.  That  is  not  it; 
but  the  act  of  Congress  is  a  positive  law, 

196 


The  Reply  to  Benjamin. 

made  under  the  sanction  of  an  oath,  in 
the  light  of  the  consciences  of  the  men 
who  agreed  to  it ;  and  I  ask  him  in  all 
fairness  and  honor,  if  he  or  I  to-day  vote 
in  this  Senate  chamber  to  prohibit  slav 
ery  in  a  certain  Territory,  whether,  if  we 
believe  that  we  have  no  right  under  the 
Constitution  to  do  that,  we  do  not  violate 
both  the  Constitution  and  our  oaths  when 
we  render  that  vote  ?  I  think  that  from 
this  position  there  is  no  escape.  When 
Mr.  Clay  gave  that  vote,  he  had  no  Con 
stitutional  doubt.  When  the  South  urged 
it,  and  the  North  agreed  to  it,  they  who 
voted  had  no  Constitutional  doubt ;  or  if 
they  had,  it  vanished  before  the  clear  light 
of  reason  and  argument.  The  North,  as 
it  is  said,  accepted  it  reluctantly ;  at  least 
they  abided  by  it.  When  gentlemen  de 
stroyed  it  they  ran  after  strange  gods; 
and  now  when  many  of  them  propose  to 
come  back  to  it,  they  are  offering  a  truer 
and  more  acceptable  worship.  But,  sir, 
the  point  of  the  argument  is  not  to  be 
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Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

evaded  by  any  pretense  that  it  is  a  mere 
agreement  in  a  court  of  honor  to  do  that 
which  they  have  no  legal  and  Constitu 
tional  right  to  do.  Suppose  a  gentleman 
from  Alabama  comes  up  and  says,  "  Sir, 
you,  the  Senator  from  Louisiana,  have 
voted  to  prohibit  me  from  taking  my 
slaves  into  the  territory  north  of  36°  30'; 
what  do  you  mean  by  it  ?  have  you  any 
right  to  do  it?  "Oh,  no,"  the  Senator 
says,  "no  right  in  the  world ;  it  is  just  a 
sort  of  legislative  flourish,  a  compact 
between  us  and  somebody  else,  that  hav 
ing  done  it,  we  will  never  take  it  back; 
it  is  the  exercise  of  a  right  which  theo 
retically  we  do  not  claim;  we  have  just 
done  it — we  do  not  exactly  know  why  in 
point  of  law,  but  we  have  done  it  because 
we  hope,  having  done  it,  nobody  will  undo 
it."  What  will  the  strict  constructionists 
on  the  other  side  say  to  that?  What 
words  will  they  put  in  my  mouth  ? 

I  do  not  think  the   argument  can  be 
defended    other   than  upon   the   ground 

198 


The  Reply  to  Benjamin. 

assumed  by  a  justice  of  the  peace,  well 
known  to  my  distinguished  friend  from 
Illinois  [Mr.  Douglas],  old  Boiling  Green, 
in  answer  to  a  little  law  advice  that  I 
gave  him  on  one  occasion  when  the  Sen 
ator  and  I  were  both  very  young  men, 
and  (if  he  will  excuse  me  for  saying  so) 
very  poor  lawyers.  [Laughter.]  Old 
Boiling  Green,  then  a  magistrate,  came 
to  me  and  said,  "Baker,  I  want  to  know 
if  I  have  jurisdiction  in  a  case  of  slan 
der."  I  put  on  a  very  important  air; 
looked  at  him  steadily — looked  as  wise 
as  I  could,  and  I  said  to  him,  "Squire, 
you  have  no  such  authority;  that  is  re 
served  to  a  court  of  general  jurisdiction." 
"Well,"  said  he,  "think  again;  you  have 
not  read  law  very  well,  or  very  long;  try 
it  again;  now,  have  I  not  jurisdiction? 
can  I  not  do  it?"  "No,"  I  said;  "you 
cannot."  Said  he,  "Try  once  more; 
now,  cannot  I  take  jurisdiction?"  "No, 
sir,"  said  I;  "you  cannot;  I  know  it;  I 
have  read  the  law  from  Blackstone  to 


Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

— ;  well,  I  have  read  Blackstone,  and 
I  know  yon  cannot  do  it."  "Now,  sir," 
said  he,  "I  know  I  can;  for,  by  Heaven, 
I  have  done  it."  [Laughter.]  I  under 
stand,  now,  that  the  sum  total  of  the 
answer  which  is  made  to  my  objection  as 
to  the  Constitutionality  of  the  Missouri 
Compromise  touching  the  consciences  of 
the  gentlemen  who  proposed  to  pass  it 
without  power,  is  just  the  reply  of  my 
old  friend  Boiling  Green.  They  say, 
"Theoretically  we  have  not  the  power; 
constitutionally  we  have  not  the  power; 
but,  by  Heaven,  we  have  done  it." 
[Laughter.] 

Well,  sir,  I  do  not  assume  to  deal  with 
them  in  a  court  of  conscience.  That  is 
their  matter.  I  do  not  pretend  to  discuss 
the  propriety  of  making  a  solemn  act  of 
the  Congress  of  the  United  States  merely 
evidence  in  a  court  of  honor,  subject,  as 
I  think,  to  a  demurrer  to  evidence  at 
least.  That  is  none  of  my  business. 
What  I  am  dealing  with  is  this :  if  that 

200 


The  Reply  to  Benjamin. 

be  the  opinion  of  Virginia,  of  Louisiana, 
of  the  entire  South;  if  they  have  done  it 
by  their  leaders,  by  their  speeches;  if 
they  have  lived  by  it;  if,  being  a  compact, 
it  is  an  executed  compact;  if  under  it 
State  after  State  has  come  into  this 
Union,  is  it  not  too  late  for  them  to  deny 
now  that  we  are  justified  if  we  wish  to 
adhere  to  that  principle  ?  Have  they 
a  right  to  come  and  say,  "You  are 
declaring  slavery  to  be  a  creature  of  the 
local  law,  and  we  will  justly  dissolve 
the  Union  by  revolution  in  consequence 
thereof  ?  "  I  think,  from  the  conclusion, 
that  this  is  neither  fair,  nor  just,  nor 
right,  nor  Constitutional.  There  is  no 
escape. 

The  Senator  says,  in  substance,  that  we 
attack  slavery  generally. 

Mr.  BENJAMIN.  If  the  Senator  will  per 
mit  me,  the  charge  is  not  that  Congress 
does  it,  but  that  the  States  do  it. 

Mr.  BAKER.  Very  well.  I  thank  the 
gentleman;  and  with  the  directness  which 
201 


Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

belongs  to  his  character,  and  the  cour 
tesy  which  he  can  never  forget,  I  shall 
be  happy  if,  only  to  carry  down  the 
argument,  whenever  he  sees  a  proper 
place,  he  will  just  direct  my  attention  to 
the  pith  and  marrow  of  the  matter  as  he 
does  now.  Now,  be  it  understood,  on 
this  given  day  of  January,  in  the  year 
of  our  Lord  1861,  the  great  champion 
of  the  South  upon  this  question  gets  up 
in  his  place  in  the  Senate  and  admits 
that  there  is  no  ground  of  complaint 
that  the  Federal  Government  ever  has 
attempted  to  interfere  with  the  existence 
of  slavery  in  the  Southern  States.  We 
will  get  that  down  upon  the  record,  and 
I  apprehend  it  will  be  quoted  before  this 
controversy  is  over,  again  and  again. 

But  it  is  said  that  the  Northern  States, 
the  "Western  States — in  other  words,  the 
free  States — do  so  interfere.  Again  we 
deny  it.  The  fact  is  not  so.  The  proof 
cannot  be  made.  Why,  sir,  I  might  ask, 
in  the  first  place,  how  can  the  States  so 

202 


1  he  Reply  to  Benjamin. 

interfere?  Suppose  Illinois,  of  which 
I  desire  to  speak  always  with  affectionate 
solicitude,  and  of  which  I  can  speak  with 
considerable  knowledge,  were  to  violate 
all  the  opinions  which  she  has  mani 
fested  in  her  history,  and  desired  to 
interfere  with  the  existence  of  slavery 
in  Virginia,  how  would  she  go  about  it  ? 
I  have  the  profoundest  respect  for  my 
friend  as  a  lawyer;  but  I  would  like  to 
know  what  bill  he  could  frame  by  which 
Illinois  could  interfere  with  the  existence 
of  slavery  in  Virginia. 

Mr.  BENJAMIN.  Mr.  President,  I  will 
tell  the  Senator,  not  how  they  can  do 
it  by  bill,  but  how  they  do  it  in  acts. 
A  body  of  men  penetrated  into  the  State 
of  Virginia  by  force  of  arms,  into  a 
peaceful  village  at  the  dead  hour  of  night, 
armed  with  means  for  the  purpose  of 
causing  the  slaves  to  rise  against  their 
masters,  seized  upon  the  public  property 
of  the  United  States,  and  murdered  the 
inhabitants.  A  man  was  found  in  Massa- 

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Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

chusetts  who,  in  public  speeches,  declared 
that  he  approved  of  that,  and  that  the 
invasion  was  right;  and  the  people  of 
Massachusetts,  by  an  enormous  majority 
— the  fact  of  that  man's  action  placed 
before  the  people  as  a  ground  why  he 
should  be  elected  their  Governor  — 
elected  him  their  Governor,  indorsed 
invasion  of  a  sister  State,  indorsed  the 
murder  of  peaceful  inhabitants  of  the 
State  of  Yirginia.  The  people  of  Massa 
chusetts,  by  the  election  of  Andrews  as 
their  Governor,  have  indorsed  the  act  of 
John  Brown,  have  indorsed  the  invasion 
of  a  sister  State,  and  the  murder  of  its 
peaceful  citizens  at  dead  of  night. 

The  people  of  Massachusetts,  in  their 
collective  capacity,  have  done  more. 
They  have  sent  Senators  upon  this  floor 
whose  only  business  has  been,  for  year 
after  year,  to  insult  the  people  of  the 
South;  here,  in  this  common  assembly 
of  confederate  embassadors,  to  cast  slan 
der  and  opprobrium  upon  them ;  to  call 

204 


The  Reply  to  Benjamin. 

them  thieves,  murderers,  violators ;  charge 
them  as  being  criminals  of  the  blackest 
dye;  and  because  the  men  who  here  rep 
resent  Massachusetts  did  that,  Massa 
chusetts  has  sent  them  back  to  repeat 
the  wrong.  They  have  done  that,  ?nd 
nothing  else,  since  ever  I  have  been  in 
the  Senate. 

Mr.  WILSON.  Mr.  President  — 
Mr.  BAKER.  Oh,  never  mind.  Mr. 
President,  I  asked  the  gentleman  from 
Louisiana  to  point  out  to  me  and  to  the 
Senate  how,  if  the  State  of  Illinois  were 
desirous  to  interfere  with  the  existence 
of  slavery  in  Virginia,  it  could  be  done. 
I  leave  to  his  cooler  temper  and  his 
better  taste  to  examine  how  he  has 
answered  me.  Why,  sir,  he  runs  off  into 
a  disquisition  upon  John  Brown,  which 
would  not  dignify  a  stump.  Now,  I  sub 
mit  that  that  is  not  the  point  between  us. 
I  hold  that  his  answer  is  an  acknowledg 
ment  that  a  free  State  cannot,  as  a  State, 
interfere  in  any  conceivable  way  with 

205 


Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

slavery  in  a  slave  State ;  and  that  being 
so,  we  advance  another  step.  We  agree 
now  that  Congress  never  have  interfered, 
and  that  States  never  can. 

But  the  gentleman  says  (and  I  do  not 
reply  to  it  now  on  account  of  what  he 
has  said  at  this  moment,  but  because  it 
is  another  of  the  counts  in  the  indict 
ment),  that  individuals  in  the  Northern 
States  have  interfered  with  slavery  in 
the  Southern  States.  I  believe  that  to 
be  true;  but  being  true,  I  ask,  what 
then  ?  Is  that  the  chief  ground  of  disso 
lution?  Are  you  going  to  revolt  for 
that  ?  Will  you  plunge  us  into  civil  war 
for  that  ?  Is  that  all  ?  Sir,  let  us  exam 
ine  it  a  little  more  closely.  I  pass,  as 
unworthy  of  the  dignity  of  the  debate, 
the  incidental  attack  which  the  Senator 
from  Louisiana  has  chosen  to  make  upon 
the  people  of  Massachusetts,  upon  the 
Governor  of  that  great  State,  and  upon 
the  distinguished  Senators  from  that 
State,  who,  in  my  judgment,  are  an  honor 

206 


The  Reply  to  Benjamin. 

on  this  floor  to  this  body.  It  is  not  my 
purpose  —  they  would  not  intrust  me 
with  their  defense ;  nor  is  it  needful  that 
I  should  make  it  here  or  anywhere. 
That  is  not  within  the  scope  and  pur 
pose  of  this  debate;  but  it  is  within 
the  scope  and  purpose  of  this  debate  to 
examine  how  much  of  truth  there  is  in 
'the  general  sweeping  charge  which  the 
Senator  has  chosen  to  make,  and  how 
much  justification  in  the  fact,  if  the  fact 
be  true. 

Sir,  the  people  of  the  Northern  and 
Western  States  are  a  free  people.  We 
have  there  various  rights  guaranteed  to 
us  by  our  State  constitutions,  among  the 
chiefest  of  which  are  liberty  of  thought 
and  freedom  of  speech.  We  are  an 
inquiring  people;  we  are  an  investigat 
ing  people;  and  we  are,  no  doubt,  very 
subject  to  the  charge  often  made  against 
us  that  we  are  a  people  of  isms.  Where 
there  is  perfect  freedom  of  opinion, 
that  must  be  the  case,  in  the  nature  of 

207 


Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

things.  It  is  in  the  nature  of  the  human 
mind  itself.  Laws  will  not  restrain  it. 
We  cannot  bind  the  human  mind  with 
fetters,  nor  can  we  limit  it  to  modes  of 
expression.  It  will  think  and  it  will  act, 
spite  of  all  government,  and  beyond  all 
law.  It  follows,  as  a  consequence,  that 
the  people  will  not  think  alike;  and,  of 
course,  as  there  cannot  be  two  ways  per 
fectly  right  upon  any  one  subject,  the 
people  will  not  always  think  truly  and 
wisely. 

What  then?  There  are  people  in  Mas 
sachusetts,  and  in  Illinois,  and  in  Oregon, 
who  will  not  only  violate  the  rights  of 
the  slave  States  but  the  rights  of  the 
free.  There  are  people  in  the  North 
who  will  not  only  steal  niggers,  but  steal 
horses.  There  are  people  in  the  North 
who  will  not  only  try  to  burn  down  houses 
in  the  slave  States,  but  who  will  be  in 
cendiary  in  the  free  States.  It  is  the 
duty  of  the  distinguished  Senator  from 
Louisiana,  and  myself  sometimes,  as 

208 


The  Reply  to  Benjamin. 

counsel,  to  defend  such  men.  Nor  do  I 
know  that  such  men  or  such  defenses  are 
confined  to  the  North  or  the  West  alone. 
I  apprehend  if  a  grateful  procession  of 
the  knaves  and  rascals  who  are  indebted 
to  the  distinguished  Senator  from  Lou 
isiana  for  an  escape  from  the  penitentiary 
and  the  halter  were  to  surround  him 
to-day,  it  would  be  difficult  for  even 
admiring  friends  to  get  near  him  to  con 
gratulate  him  upon  the  success  of  his 
efforts  upon  this  floor.  [Laughter.] 
When,  therefore,  he  says  that  individuals 
— not  States,  not  Congress — but  indi 
viduals  in  the  free  States,  do  attack  in 
their  individual  capacity  the  honor  and 
dignity  of  the  slave  States,  and  do  run 
off  their  niggers,  and  do  steal  their 
property,  and  do  kidnap,  and  do  various 
other  things  contrary  to  their  duty  as 
good  citizens,  I  am  inclined,  while  I 
regret  it,  to  believe  the  whole  of  it. 

Springing  from  that,  and  evidenced,  as 
I    think,    by    the    excited    enumeration 

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Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

which  the  distinguished  Senator  has 
chosen  to  make  of  the  wrongs  and  crimes 
of  the  State  of  Massachusetts  and  her 
Senators, — springing  from  that  exagger 
ated  mode  of  thought  and  expression, 
as  to  the  free  States,  arises  the  spirit  of 
the  count  in  the  indictment  against  the 
whole  of  us.  Now,  I  beg  leave  to  say  to 
the  honorable  Senator,  that  the  desire  to 
interfere  with  the  rights  of  slavery  in 
the  slave  States  is  not  the  desire  of  the 
Northern  people.  It  is  not  the  desire  of 
the  people  of  Oregon,  I  know;  it  is  not 
the  desire  of  the  people  of  California,  I 
am  sure;  it  is  not  the  desire  of  the  people 
of  Illinois,  I  would  swear;  and  I  may 
say  more,  that  in  all  my  association  with 
the  [Republican  party,  I  have  yet  to  find 
among  them,  from  their  chiefs  down  to 
their  humblest  private,  one  man  who 
proposes  to  interfere  with  the  existence 
of  slavery  in  the  slave  States  by  force, 
by  legislation,  or  by  Congressional  action. 
I  have  known  no  such  man  in  all  my 
210 


The  Reply  to  Benjamin. 

short  experience,  nor  do  I  believe  that 
the  Senator  from  Louisiana  can  point 
out  any  such  man. 

Mr.  BENJAMIN.  If  the  Senator  merely 
desires  me  to  answer  him,  I  will  tell 
him  exactly  what  I  said  the  other  day: 
that  the  belief  of  the  South  is,  and  I 
admit  I  share  it,  that,  without  intending 
to  violate  the  letter  of  the  Constitution 
by  going  into  States  for  the  purpose  of 
forcibly  emancipating  slaves,  it  is  the 
desire  of  the  whole  Republican  party 
to  close  up  the  Southern  States  with  a 
cordon  of  free  States,  for  the  avowed 
purpose  of  forcing  the  South  to  emanci 
pate  them. 

Mr.  BAKER.  Very  well,  sir.  See  how 
gloriously  we  advance,  step  by  step. 
We  abandon  now  the  charge  that  Con 
gress  does  it;  we  abandon  now  the  charge 
that  States  do  it;  we  abandon  now  the 
charge  that  the  individual  members  of 
the  Northern  and  Western  communities, 
as  a  body,  desire  to  interfere  with  slavery 

211 


Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

contrary  to  law,  to  violate  any  existing 
right  in  the  slave  States;  but  we  insist 
tenaciously  and  pertinaciously  on  our 
fourth  count  in  the  indictment;1  and  it  is 
this— 

Mr.  BENJAMIN.  The  Senator,  I  trust, 
does  not  desire  to  misrepresent  what  I 
said. 

Mr.  BAKER.     I  do  not,  sir. 

Mr.  BENJAMIN.  I  am  confident  that  he 
does  not.  I  understood  the  Senator  to 
ask  me,  in  relation  to  the  Eepublican 
party,  what  proof  I  had  of  their  desire 
to  destroy  slavery  in  the  States.  I  gave 
it  to  him.  I  did  not  say  that,  independ 
ently  of  that,  there  were  not  other  attacks 
upon  Southern  slavery.  I  just  this  mo 
ment  referred  him  to  the  direct  attack  of 
the  State  of  Massachusetts — the  State  as 
a  State.  Independently  of  that,  by  the 
further  exemplification  of  the  State  of 
Massachusetts,  I  will  refer  him  to  the 
fact  that  her  Legislature  indorsed  the 
vituperations  of  her  Senator  on  this  floor, 
212 


The  Reply  to  Benjamin. 

by  an  enormous  majority,  and  made  that 
a  State  act;  and  furthermore,  that  she 
passed  a  law  in  violation  of  the  rights 
of  Southern  slaveholders,  and  all  her 
eminent  legal  men  are  now  urging  the 
State  to  repeal  the  law  as  a  gross  out 
rage  upon  the  Constitutional  rights  of 
the  South. 

Mr.  BAKER.  Why,  Mr.  President,  in  a 
State  where  all  her  eminent  legal  men 
are  desirous  to  rectify  a  wrong,  I  do  not 
think,  if  the  Senator  will  wait  a  little 
while,  there  can  be  any  very  great  danger. 
Our  profession  is  a  very  powerful  one; 
and  I  have  never  known  a  State  in  which 
we  all  agree  upon  a  legal  proposition 
that  we  could  not  induce  her  to  agree  to 
it  too.  That  is  a  mere  answer  in  pass 
ing. 

I  insist,  however — I  know  it  is  not 
quite  pleasant  to  my  friend,  and  I  regret 
that  it  is  not  so — that  I  have  brought 
him  down  to  a  clear  statement  by  way  of 
abandonment  of  three  or  four  of  the 
213 


Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

specifications.  It  is  now  true  that  the 
great  ground  of  complaint  has  narrowed 
itself  down  to  this:  that,  as  a  people,  we 
desire  to  circle  the  slave  States  with  a 
cordon  of  free  States,  and  thereby  destroy 
the  institution  of  slavery;  to  treat  it  like 
the  scorpion  girt  by  fire.  I  take  that  to 
be  an  abandonment  of  the  main  counts  in 
the  indictment,  unless  that  be  considered 
one  of  them.  Now,  I  approach  that  ques 
tion:  first,  if  we,  a  free  people,  really,  in 
our  hearts  and  consciences,  believing 
that  freedom  is  better  for  everybody  than 
slavery,  do  desire  the  advance  of  free 
sentiments,  and  do  endeavor  to  assist 
that  advance  in  a  Constitutional,  legal 
way,  is  that,  I  ask  him,  ground  of  sepa 
ration  ? 

Mr.  BENJAMIN.     I  say,  yes;  decidedly. 

Mr.  BAKEK.  That  is  well.  And  I  say 
just  as  decidedly,  and  perhaps  more 
emphatically,  no !  And  I  will  proceed 
to  tell  him  why.  The  argument  is  a 
little  more  discursive  to-day  than  yester- 

214 


The  Reply  to  Benjamin. 

day,  but  perhaps  not  less  instructive. 
Suppose  that  circling  slavery  with  a  cor 
don  of  free  States  were  a  cause  of  sepa 
ration,  and  therefore  war,  with  us:  is  it 
not  just  as  much  so  with  anybody  else  ? 
It  is  no  greater  crime  for  a  Massachu 
setts  man  or  an  Oregon  man  to  circle,  to 
girdle,  and  thereby  kill,  slavery,  than  for 
a  Frenchman,  or  an  Englishman,  or  a 
Mexican.  It  is  as  much  a  cause  of  war 
against  France,  or  England,  or  Mexico, 
as  against  us. 

Again,  sir:  how  are  you  going  to  help 
it  ?  How  can  we  help  it?  Circle  slavery 
with  a  cordon  of  free  States  !  Why,  if  I 
read  history  and  observe  geography 
rightly,  it  is  so  girdled  now.  Which 
way  can  slavery  extend  itself  that  it  does 
not  encroach  upon  the  soil  of  freedom  ? 
Has  the  Senator  thought  of  that?  It 
cannot  go  North,  though  it  is  trying  very 
hard.  It  cannot  go  into  Kansas,  though 
it  made  a  convulsive  effort,  mistaking  a 
spasm  for  strength.  It  cannot  go  South, 

215 


Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

because,  amid  the  degradation  and  civil 
war  and  peonage  of  Mexico,  if  there  be 
one  thing  under  heaven  they  hate  worse 
than  another,  it  is  African  slavery.  It 
cannot  reach  the  islands  of  the  sea,  for 
they  are  under  the  shadow  of  France, 
that  guards  their  shores  against  such 
infectious  approach.  It  is  circled  —  I 
will  not  say  girdled.  I  recollect  the 
figure,  familiar  to  us  all,  by  which  he 
intimates  that  that  which  is  girdled  will 
die.  Therefore,  I  do  not  say  girdled; 
I  say  circled,  inclosed,  surrounded;  I 
may  say  hedged  in;  nay,  more,  I  may 
say — where  is  the  Senator  from  New 
York  [Mr.  Seward]  ?  he  is  a  prophet, 
and  I  will  not  predict;  but,  if  I  were  not 
warned  by  his  example  and  his  predic 
tion  as  to  the  "irrepressible  conflict,"  I 
might  say  that,  being  so  hedged,  circled, 
guarded,  encompassed,  it  will  some  day — 
it  may  be  infinitely  far  distant,  so  far  as 
mortal  eye  can  see  —  but  it  will  be  some 
day  lost  and  absorbed  in  the  superior 

216 


The  Reply  to  Benjamin. 

blaze  of  freedom.  And,  sir,  that  would 
be  the  case,  just  as  much  as  it  is  now,  if 
there  were  no  Northern  free  States. 
What  harm  do  I,  in  Illinois  or  Oregon, 
to  the  Senator  from  Louisiana?  Where 
can  his  slavery  go,  that  it  is  not  now, 
unless  it  be  in  this  disputed  Territory  of 
New  Mexico?  Where  else?  If  it  go 
anywhere  else,  it  will  go  incursive,  aggres 
sive  upon  freedom.  It  will  go  by  invad 
ing  the  rights  of  a  nation  that  is  inferior 
and  that  desires  to  be  friendly.  It  will 
go  in  defiance  of  the  wish  and  will  and 
hope  and  tear  and  prayer  of  the  whole 
civilized  world.  It  will  go  in  defiance 
of  the  hopes  of  civilized  humanity  all 
over  the  world.  The  Senator  will  not 
deny  that.  Therefore  it  is  that  it  appears 
to  me  idle — and  I  had  almost  said  wicked 
— to  attempt  to  plunge  this  country  into 
civil  war,  upon  the  pretense  that  we  are 
endeavoring  to  circle  your  institution, 
when,  if  we  had  no  such  wish  or  desire 
in  the  world,  it  is  circled  by  destiny, 

217 


Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

by  Providence,   and  by  human  opinion 
everywhere. 

The  Senator  asks,  "  How  will  you  col 
lect  your  revenue  ?  "  There  is  nothing 
practical  in  the  attempted  idea  that  we 
cannot  punish  an  individual,  or  that  we 
cannot  compel  him  to  obey  the  law,  because 
a  sovereign  State  will  undertake  to  succor 
him.  There  is  no  more  sense  in  that  than 
there  was  in  the  excuse  made  by  a  cele 
brated  commander -in -chief  for  profane 
swearing.  The  Duke  of  York,  as  you  may 
remember,  sir,  was,  during  the  reign  of 
George  III.,  his  father,  not  only  comman- 
der-in-chief  of  the  British  forces,  but  he 
was  titular  Bishop  of  Osnaburgh ;  that  is, 
he  had  a  little  principality  in  Germany 
which  was  originally  related  to  the  Church, 
and  he  was  nominal  bishop  of  that  princi 
pality.  At  a  tavern  one  day,  while  the  com- 
mander-in-chief  was  swearing  profanely,  a 
gentleman  of  the  Church  of  England  felt 
it  his  duty  to  reprove  him,  and  said  to 
him,  "  Sir,  I  am  astonished  that  a  bishop 

218 


The  Reply  to  Benjamin. 

should  swear  in  the  manner  that  you  do." 
"Sir,"  said  he,  "I  want  you  to  distinctly 
understand  that  I  do  not  swear  as  the 
Bishop  of  Osnaburgh — I  swear  as  the 
Duke  of  York,  the  commander-in-chief." 
"Ah,  sir,"  said  the  old  man,  "when  the 
Lord  shall  send  the  duke  to  hell,  what 
will  become  of  the  bishop  ?  "  [Laughter.] 
Now,  if,  in  consequence  of  an  attempt  to 
violate  the  revenue  laws,  some  persons 
should  be  hurt,  I  do  not  know  that  it 
will  better  their  condition  at  all  that 
South  Carolina  will  stand  as  a  stake  to 
their  back.  I  think  that  is  the  plain 
common-sense  answer  to  all  that  has  been 
said  on  that  subject. 

Sir,  as  I  leave  that  branch  of  it,  indeed 
as  I  leave  the  subject  altogether,  I  will 
simply  say  that  I  hope  it  will  never 
come.  Whatever  moderation,  whatever 
that  great  healer,  Time,  whatever  the 
mediation  of  those  allied  to  these  people 
in  blood,  in  sympathy,  in  interest,  may 
effect,  let  that  be  done;  but  at  last  let 

219 


Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

the  laws  be  maintained  and  the  Union  be 
preserved.  At  whatever  cost,  by  what 
ever  Constitutional  process,  through  what 
ever  of  darkness  or  danger  there  may  be, 
let  us  proceed  in  the  broad  luminous  path 
of  duty  "  till  danger's  troubled  night  be 
passed  and  the  star  of  peace  returns." 

As  I  take  my  leave  of  a  subject  upon 
which  I  have  detained  you  too  long,  I 
think  in  my  own  mind  whether  I  shall 
add  anything  in  my  feeble  way  to  the 
hopes,  the  prayers,  the  aspirations  that 
are  going  forth  daily  for  the  perpetuity 
of  the  Union  of  these  States.  I  ask 
myself,  shall  I  add  anything  to  that 
volume  of  invocation  which  is  everywhere 
rising  up  to  high  Heaven,  "  Spare  us  from 
the  madness  of  disunion  and  civil  war !" 
Sir,  standing  in  this  chamber  and  speak 
ing  upon  this  subject,  I  cannot  forget  that 
I  am  standing  in  a  place  once  occupied 
by  one  far,  far  mightier  than  I,  the  lachet 
of  whose  shoes  I  am  not  worthy  to 
unloose.  It  was  upon  this  subject  of 

220 


The  Reply  to  Benjamin. 

secession,  of  disunion,  of  discord,  of  civil 
war,  that  Webster  uttered  those  immortal 
sentiments,  clothed  in  immortal  words, 
married  to  the  noblest  expressions  that 
ever  fell  from  human  lips,  which  alone 
would  have  made  him  memorable  and 
remembered  forever.  Sir,  I  cannot  im 
prove  upon  those  expressions.  They 
were  uttered  nearly  thirty  years  ago,  in 
the  face  of  what  was  imagined  to  be  a 
great  danger,  then  happily  dissipated. 
They  were  uttered  in  the  fullness  of  his 
genius,  from  the  fullness  of  his  heart. 
They  have  found  echo  since  then  in  mil 
lions  of  homes  and  in  foreign  lands. 
They  have  been  a  text-book  in  schools. 
They  have  been  an  inspiration  to  public 
hope  and  to  public  liberty.  As  I  close, 
I  repeat  them;  I  adopt  them.  If  in  their 
presence  I  were  to  attempt  to  give  utter 
ance  to  any  words  of  my  own,  I  should 
feel  that  I  ought  to  say, 

11  And  shall  the  lyre  so  long  divine 
Degenerate  into  hands  like  mine  T" 

221 


Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

Sir,  I  adopt  the  closing  passages  of 
that  immortal  speech;  they  are  my  senti 
ments;  they  are  the  sentiments  of  every 
man  upon  this  side  of  the  chamber;  I 
would  fain  believe  they  are  the  sentiments 
of  every  man  upon  this  floor;  I  would 
fain  believe  that  they  are  an  inspiration, 
and  will  become  a  power  throughout  the 
length  and  breadth  of  this  broad  con 
federacy;  that  again  the  aspirations  and 
hopes  and  prayers  for  the  Union  may 
rise  like  a  perpetual  hymn  of  hope  and 
praise.  But,  sir,  however  this  may  be, 
these  thoughts  are  mine;  these  prayers 
are  mine;  and  as,  reverently  and  fondly, 
I  utter  them,  I  leave  the  discussion: — 

"When  my  eyes  shall  be  turned  to 
behold  for  the  last  time  the  sun  in 
heaven,  may  I  not  see  him  shining  on  the 
broken  and  dishonored  fragments  of  a 
once  glorious  Union;  on  States  dissev 
ered,  discordant,  belligerent;  on  a  land 
rent  with  civil  feuds,  or  drenched,  it  may 
be,  in  fraternal  blood!  Let  their  last 

222 


The  Reply  to  Benjamin. 

feeble  and  lingering  glance  rather  behold 
the  gorgeous  ensign  of  the  Republic,  now 
known  and  honored  throughout  the  earth, 
still  full  high  advanced,  its  arms  and 
trophies  streaming  in  their  original  luster, 
not  a  stripe  erased  or  polluted,  nor  a 
single  star  obscured,  bearing  for  its  motto 
no  such  miserable  interrogatory  as  'What 
is  all  this  worth?'  nor  those  other  words 
of  delusion  and  folly,  'Liberty  first,  and 
Union  afterwards ;'  but  everywhere,  spread 
all  over  in  characters  of  living  light,  blaz 
ing  on  all  its  ample  folds,  as  they  float 
over  the  sea  and  over  the  land,  and  in 
every  wind  under  the  whole  heavens, 
that  other  sentiment,  dear  to  every  true 
American  heart,  'Liberty  and  Union,  now 
and  forever,  one  and  inseparable  ! ' " 


AT    THE    GKEAT    MASS-MEET 
ING,  NEW   YOEK   CITY. 


THE  last  speech  was,  indeed,  spoken  "in  the  presence 
of  great  events."  South  Carolina  and  other  Southern 
States  had  already  seceded.  Two  months  after  this  speech 
the  Administration  of  Abraham  Lincoln  was  inaugurated. 
Benjamin  had  left  the  Senate  with  the  secession  of  Louisi 
ana.  That  body,  held  in  session  to  act  on  Presidential 
appointments,  adjourned  on  March  28th.  Within  a  fort 
night,  Fort  Sumter  was  bombarded  and  taken  by  the  Con 
federates.  Virginia  seceded  a  few  days  later.  Upon  the 
fall  of  Sumter  the  President  called  for  seventy-five  thou 
sand  men  to  defend  the  Capital.  His  proclamation  recited 
that  the  laws  were  opposed  and  their  execution  obstructed 
by  "  combinations"  in  South  Carolina,  Georgia,  Alabama, 
Florida,  Mississippi,  Louisiana,  and  Texas,  and  called  for 
recruits  "  to  suppress  said  combination,  and  to  cause  the 
laws  to  be  duly  executed";  and  at  the  same  time  sum 
moned  Congress  to  meet  in  extra  session  of  the  4th  of 
July.  A  second  call  for  troops  was  made  on  May  4th.  The 
war  spirit  being  thoroughly  aroused,  Union  mass-meet 
ings  were  held  throughout  the  Northern  and  Western 
States,  the  most  notable,  in  point  of  numbers  and  enthu 
siasm,  being  in  Union  Square,  New  York  City,  on  Saturday, 
April  19, 1861.  From  different  stands  twenty  of  the  most 
prominent  men  of  the  country  addressed  the  multitude, 
among  them  being  Daniel  S.  Dickinson,  James  T.  Brady, 
John  A.  Dix,  Henry  J.  Raymond,  and  the  Oregon  Senator. 
This  was  the  largest  mass-meeting  ever  held  in  this  coun 
try.  It  was  generally  estimated  that  one  hundred  thou 
sand  people  were  in  the  throng.  Dickinson,  who  had 
been  United  States  Senator  from  New  York,  and  was  a  fine 
speaker,  addressing  another  meeting  on  a  later  occasion 
in  Brooklyn,  after  the  death  of  Baker,  thus  alluded  to 
our  orator :  "  He  was  swifter  than  an  eagle ;  he  was  stronger 
than  a  lion,  and  the  very  soul  of  manly  daring.  He  spoke 

227 


Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

by  my  side  at  the  great  Union  Square  meeting  in  April, 
and  his  words  of  fiery  and  patriotic  eloquence  yet  ring 
upon  my  ear.  And  has  that  noble  heart  ceased  to  throb  — 
that  pulse  to  play?  Has  that  beaming  eye  closed  in  death? 
Has  that  tongue  so  eloquent  been  silenced  forever?" 

Baker's  speech  follows.  His  happy  reference  to  his 
leadership  of  New  York  troops  on  the  battle-field  in 
Mexico  made  sure  of  the  affectionate  sympathy  of  the 
vast  host  before  him. 

Governor  Stanly,  on  the  occasion  spoken  of  on  page  65, 
repeated  the  stirring  words  with  which  this  speech  con 
cluded,  and  declared  Baker's  effort  to  be  "  one  of  great 
eloquence  and  power." 

It  was  there— in  the  great  metropolis,  before  the 
unreckoned  multitude,  in  the  face  of  an  unexampled 
crisis,  and  in  the  fullness  of  his  fame  — our  friend  made 
his  last  popular  appeal. 


228 


AT  THE    GBEAT    MASS-MEETING, 
NEW  YOEK  CITY. 

THE  majesty  of  the  people  is  here 
to-day  to  sustain  the  majesty  of  the  Con 
stitution  [cheers],  and  I  come  a  wanderer 
from  the  far  Pacific  to  record  my  oath 
along  with  yours  of  the  great  Empire 
State.  [Applause,  and  three  cheers  for 
Baker.]  The  hour  for  conciliation  is 
passed;  the  gathering  for  battle  is  at 
hand,  and  the  country  requires  that  every 
man  shall  do  his  duty.  [Loud  cheers.] 
Fellow-citizens,  what  is  that  country? 
Is  it  the  soil  on  which  we  tread?  Is 
it  the  gathering  of  familiar  faces?  Is 
it  our  luxury,  and  pomp,  and  pride  ? 
Nay,  more  than  these,  is  it  power,  and 
might,  and  majesty  alone?  No;  our 
country  is  more,  far  more,  than  all  these. 
The  country  which  demands  our  love, 
our  courage,  our  devotion,  our  heart's 

229 


Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

blood,  is  more  than  all  these.  [Loud 
applause.]  Our  country  is  the  history 
of  our  fathers,  the  tradition  of  our 
mothers.  Our  country  is  past  renown; 
present  pride  and  power;  future  hope 
and  dignity;  greatness,  glory,  truth,  Con 
stitutional  guarantees  —  above  all,  free 
dom  forever.  [Enthusiastic  cheers.] 
These  are  the  watchwords  under  which 
we  fight,  and  we  will  shout  them  out  till 
the  stars  appear  in  the  sky  in  the  stormi 
est  hour  of  battle.  [Cheers.]  I  have 
said  that  the  hour  of  conciliation  is  past. 
It  may  return,  but  not  to-morrow  or  next 
week.  It  will  return  when  that  tattered 
flag  [pointing  to  the  flag  of  Fort  Sumter] 
is  avenged.  [Prolonged  and  enthusiastic 
cheers.]  It  will  return  when  rebellious 
Confederates  are  taught  that  the  North, 
though  peaceable,  is  not  cowardly; 
though  forbearing,  not  fearful.  [Cheers.] 
That  hour  of  conciliation  will  come  back 
when  again  the  ensign  of  the  Eepublic 
will  stream  over  every  rebellious  fort 

230 


The  New  York  Mass- Meeting. 

of  every  Confederate  State  [renewed 
cheers],  to  be,  as  of  old,  the  emblem  of 
the  pride,  and  power,  and  dignity,  and 
majesty,  and  peace  of  the  nation. 
[Applause.]  Young  men  of  New  York! 
you  are  told  that  this  is  not  to  be  a  war 
of  aggression.  In  one  sense,  that  is  true ; 
in  another,  not.  We  have  committed 
aggression  upon  no  man.  In  all  the 
broad  land,  in  their  rebel  nest,  in  their 
traitor's  camp,  no  truthful  man  can  rise 
and  say  that  he  has  ever  been  disturbed, 
though  it  be  but  for  a  single  moment,  in 
life,  liberty,  estate,  character,  or  honor. 
[Cheers,  and  cries  of  "  That 's  so  ! "]  The 
day  they  began  this  unnatural,  false, 
wicked,  rebellious  warfare,  their  lives 
were  more  secure,  their  property  more 
secure  by  us  (not  by  themselves,  but  by 
us),  more  strongly  guarded  than  the  lives 
and  property  of  any  other  people  from 
the  beginning  of  the  world.  [Applause.] 
We  have  committed  no  oppression, 
broken  no  compact,  exercised  no  unholy 

231 


Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

power,  but  have  been  loyal,  moderate, 
Constitutional,  and  just.  We  are  a  major 
ity,  and  will  govern  our  own  Union, 
within  our  own  Constitution,  in  our  own 
way.  [Cries  of  "  Bravo  !  "  and  applause.] 
We  are  all  Democrats.  We  are  all 
Eepublicans.  We  acknowledge  the  sov 
ereignty  within  the  rule  of  the  Constitu 
tion;  and  under  that  Constitution,  and 
beneath  that  flag,  let  traitors  beware! 
[Loud  cheers.] 

In  this  sense,  then,  young  men  of  New 
York,  we  are  not  for  a  war  of  aggression ; 
but  in  another  sense,  speaking  for  myself 
as  a  man  who  has  been  a  soldier,  and  as 
a  man  who  is  a  Senator,  I  say  I  am  for 
a  war  of  aggression.  I  propose  that  we 
do  now  as  we  did  in  Mexico  —  conquer 
peace.  [Loud  and  enthusiastic  applause.] 
I  propose  that  we  go  to  Washington,  and 
beyond.  [Loud  cheers.]  I  do  not  de 
sign  to  remain  silent,  supine,  inactive  — 
nay,  fearful  —  until  they  gather  their 
battalions  and  advance  upon  our  borders 

232 


The  New  York  Mass-Meeting. 

or  into  our  midst.  I  would  meet  them 
upon  the  threshold,  and  there,  in  the 
very  hold  of  their  power,  in  the  very 
atmosphere  of  their  treason,  I  would  dic 
tate  the  terms  of  peace.  [Loud  cheers.] 
It  may  take  thirty  millions  of  dollars, 
it  may  take  three  hundred  millions  — 
what  then?  We  have  it.  [Cries  of 
"  Good  !"  and  applause.]  Loyally,  nobly, 
grandly  do  the  merchants  of  New  York 
respond  to  the  appeals  of  the  Govern 
ment.  It  may  cost  us  seven  thousand 
men ;  it  may  cost  us  seventy-five  thou 
sand;  it  may  cost  us  seven  hundred  and 
fifty  thousand  —  what  then?  We  have 
them.  [Renewed  cheering.]  The  blood 
of  every  loyal  man  is  dear  to  me.  My 
sons,  my  kinsmen,  the  men  who  have 
grown  up  beneath  my  eye  and  beneath 
my  care,  they  are  all  dear  to  me ;  but  if 
the  country's  destiny,  glory,  tradition, 
greatness,  freedom,  Constitutional  gov 
ernment  demand  it,  let  them  all  go. 
[Enthusiastic  cheers.] 

233 


Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

I  am  not  now  to  speak  timorous  words 
of  peace,  but  to  kindle  the  spirit  of 
determined  war;  I  speak  in  the  Empire 
State,  amid  scenes  of  past  suffering  and 
past  glory.  The  defenses  of  the  Hudson 
above  me,  the  battle-field  of  Long  Island 
before  me,  and  the  statue  of  Washington 
in  my  very  face  [loud,  enthusiastic  cheers], 
the  battered  and  unconquered  flag  of 
Sumter  is  waving  at  my  side,  which  I 
can  imagine  to  be  trembling  again  with 
the  excitement  of  battle.  [Great  enthusi 
asm.]  And  as  I  speak,  I  say  my  mission 
here  to-day  is  to  kindle  the  heart  of  New 
York  for  war — short,  sudden,  bold,  deter 
mined,  forward  war.  [Great  applause.] 

The  Seventh  Regiment  has  gone. 
[Three  cheers  for  the  Seventh  Regiment] 
Let  seventy  and  seven  more  follow. 
[Applause.]  Of  old,  said  a  great  his 
torian,  beneath  the  banner  of  the  Cross, 
Europe  precipitated  itself  upon  Asia. 
Beneath  the  banner  of  the  Constitution 
let  the  men  of  the  Union  precipitate 

234 


The  New  York  Mass- Meeting. 

themselves  upon  the  Confederate  States. 
[Tremendous  applause.]  A  few  more 
words,  and  I  have  done.  [Cries  of  "  Go 
on;  we  '11  hear  you  all  night."] 

Let  no  man  underrate  the  dangers  of 
this  conflict.  Civil  war,  for  the  best  of 
reasons  upon  the  one  side,  and  the  worst 
upon  the  other,  is  always  dangerous  to 
liberty,  always  fearful,  always  bloody. 
But,  fellow-citizens,  there  are  yet  worse 
things  than  fear,  than  doubt  and  dread, 
and  peril  and  bloodshed.  Dishonor  is 
worse.  [Prolonged  cheers.]  Anarchy 
is  worse.  States  forever  commingling 
and  forever  severing  is  worse.  [Renewed 
cheers.]  Secessionists  are  worse.  To 
have  star  after  star  blotted  out  [cries 
of  "Never!  never!"] — to  have  stripe  after 
stripe  obscured  [cries  of  "No!  no!"]— 
to  have  glory  after  glory  dimmed,  to 
have  our  women  weep  and  our  men  blush 
for  shame  through  generations  to  come; 
that  and  these  are  infinitely  worse  than 
blood.  [Tremendous  cheers.] 

235 


Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

People  of  New  York!  on  the  eve  of 
battle,  allow  me  to  speak  as  a  soldier. 
Few  of  you  know,  as  my  career  has  been 
distant  and  obscure,  but  I  may  mention 
it  here  to-day  with  a  generous  pride, 
that  it  was  once  my  fortune  to  lead  your 
gallant  New  York  regiment  in  the  very 
shock  of  battle.  [Applause.]  It  was 
upon  the  bloody  heights  of  Cerro  Gordo. 
I  know  well  what  New  York  can  do 
when  her  blood  is  up.  [Loud  applause. 
" Three  cheers  for  Baker!"]  Again,  once 
more,  when  we  march,  let  us  not  march 
for  revenge — as  yet  we  have  nothing  to 
revenge.  It  is  not  much,  that  where  that 
tattered  flag  recently  floated,  guarded  by 
seventy  men  against  ten  thousand,  it  is 
not  much  that  starvation  effected  what 
an  enemy  could  not  compel.  [Prolonged 
applause.] 

We  have  yet  some  punishment  to  in 
flict.  The  President  himself,  a  hero 
without  knowing  it, — and  I  speak  from 
knowledge,  having  known  him  from  boy- 

236 


The  New  York  Mass- Meeting. 

hood, — the  President  says:  "There  are 
wrongs  to  be  redressed,  already  long 
enough  endured ;"  and  we  march  to  battle 
and  to  victory  because  we  do  not  choose 
to  endure  this  wrong  any  longer.  [Cheers.] 
They  are  wrongs  not  merely  against  us, 
not  against  the  President,  not  against  me, 
but  against  our  sons  and  against  our 
grandsons  that  surround  us.  They  are 
wrongs  against  our  ensign  [cries  of 
"That's  so!"  and  applause];  they  are 
wrongs  against  our  Union ;  they  are 
wrongs  against  our  Constitution;  they 
are  wrongs  against  human  hope  and 
human  freedom. 

While  I  speak,  following  in  the  wake 
of  men  so  eloquent,  the  object  of  your 
meeting  is  accomplished.  Upon  the  wings 
of  the  lightning  it  goes  out  to  the  world 
that  the  very  heart  of  a  great  city — that 
New  York,  by  one  hundred  thousand  of 
her  people,  declares  that  she  will  sustain 
the  Government  to  the  last  dollar  in  her 
treasury — to  the  last  drop  of  her  blood. 

237 


Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

The  national  banners  leaning  from  ten 
thousand  windows  to-day  proclaim  your 
reverence  and  affection  for  the  Union. 
You  will  gather  in  battalions,  and,  as  you 
gather,  every  omen  of  ultimate  peace  will 
surround  you.  The  ministers  of  religion, 
the  priests  of  literature,  the  historians 
of  the  past,  the  illustrators  of  the  present, 
capital,  science,  art,  invention,  discoveries, 
the  works  of  genius,  all  these  will  attend 
us,  and  we  will  conquer. 

And  if,  from  the  far  Pacific,  a  voice 
feebler  than  the  feeblest  murmur  upon 
its  shore  may  be  heard  to  give  you 
courage  and  hope  in  the  contest,  that 
voice  is  yours  to-day.  And  if  a  man 
whose  hair  is  gray,  who  is  well-nigh 
worn  out  in  the  battle  and  toil  of  life, 
may  pledge  himself  on  such  an  occasion, 
and  in  such  an  audience,  let  me  say  as 
my  last  word  that  when,  amid  sheeted 
fire  and  flame,  I  saw  and  led  the  hosts 
of  New  York  as  they  charged  in  contest 
on  a  foreign  soil  for  the  honor  of  the 

238 


The  New  York  Mass-Meeting. 

flag;  so  again,  if  Providence  shall  will 
it,  this  feeble  hand  shall  draw  a  sword, 
never  yet  dishonored,  not  to  fight  for 
honor  on  a  foreign  field,  but  for  country, 
for  home,  for  law,  for  government,  for 
Constitution,  for  right,  for  freedom,  for 
humanity — and  in  the  hope  that  the 
banner  of  my  country  may  advance,  and 
wheresoever  that  banner  waves,  there 
glory  may  pursue  and  freedom  be  estab 
lished.  [Loud  and  prolonged  applause.] 


239 


THE  EEPLY  TO  BKECKIN 
EIDGE 


WHEN  he  spoke  the  warlike  words  last  in  place.  Baker 
had  about  made  up  his  mind  again  to  "draw  a  sword 
never  yet  dishonored,"  and  on  June  28th,  one  week 
before  Congress  was  to  meet  in  special  session,  he  was 
mustered  into  service  as  colonel  of  the  First  California 
Infantry  (designation  changed  in  November,  1861,  to  Sev* 
enty-first  Pennsylvania  Infantry  Volunteers,)  to  serve 
three  years.  He  was  commissioned  brigadier-general  of 
volunteers,  August  6,  1861,  to  rank  from  May  17th.  This 
commission,  although  he  was  confirmed  by  the  Senate,  he 
declined  on  August  31st.  On  September  21st,  j  ust  a  month 
before  his  fall,  he  was  appointed  major-general  of  volun 
teers.  This  he  also  declined,  because  acceptance  would 
necessitate  his  resignation  as  Senator.  It  is  not  on  his 
tory's  page,  but  nevertheless  true,  that  when  General 
Winfield  Scott  had  to  give  up  the  general  command  of  the 
army,  in  consequence  of  old  age,  President  Lincoln  ten 
dered  the  succession  to  Colonel  Baker.  Lincoln  and  Baker 
were  old  comrades  in  the  campaigns  of  the  Whig  party. 
They  were  together  in  the  Black  Hawk  War,  and  Baker's 
action  in  the  war  with  Mexico  was  fresh  in  the  mind  and 
heart  of  the  President. 

While  Congress  was  in  special  session,  the  Federal 
disaster  at  Bull  Run  occurred,  on  Sunday,  July  21,  1861. 
Baker  was  stationed  at  Fortress  Monroe,  but  was  ordered 
with  his  command  to  Washington. 

On  August  2,  1861,  the  Senate  having  under  considera 
tion  a  bill  to  suppress  insurrection  and  sedition,  intro 
duced  on  July  16th  by  the  Hon.  Lyman  Trumbull,  of 
Illinois,  Senator  Breckinridge,  of  Kentucky,  late  Vice- 
President  of  the  United  States,  made  a  speech  against  the 
proposed  measure.  Baker,  in  the  double  role  of  statesman 
and  soldier,  heard  this  speech,  sitting  in  his  seat  as  Sena- 

-    243 


Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

tor  and  clothed  in  the  uniform  of  a  colonel  of  the  army, 
and  at  its  conclusion  he  arose  to  reply.  Seldom,  if  ever 
before,  in  the  history  of  Congress  did  a  speaker  so  chal 
lenge  attention.  Only  once  had  there  been  a  like  scene, 
and  then,  too,  it  was  the  same  actor.  In  the  war  with 
Mexico,  when  General  Shields  was  badly  wounded  at 
Cerro  Gordo,  Baker  succeeded  to  the  command  of  the 
brigade,  and  led  it  through  all  the  subsequent  battles  of 
the  war.  At  one  time  he  availed  himself  of  a  furlough, 
visited  Washington,  resumed  his  seat  in  the  House  as  a 
member  from  Illinois,  made  a  brilliant  speech  in  favor  of 
the  prosecution  of  the  war,  then  hastened  back  to  his 
regiment  at  Vera  Cruz. 

He  was  now  to  make  his  last  pronunciation.  He  was 
going  into  actual  battle  again  to  redeem  his  pledges  One 
of  these  he  had  made  at  the  reeent  New  York  mass-meet 
ing,  and  another  pledge  he  had  given  to  Glory  in  his 
youth  —  that  he  would  love  her  forever !  In  his  life,  indeed, 
were  some  Sharp  contrasts,  as  before  observed  —  this  son 
of  Mars,  this  hero  of  three  wars,  was  reared  by  Quaker 
parents!  Baker  had  long  borne  the  name  of  "The  Old 
Gray  Eagle."  It  was  a  happy  appellative.  Behold  his 
white  locks,  his  magnificent  eyes,  his  lofty  flights !  As  he 
took  the  floor  now,  in  his  uniform,  to  reply  to  Breckin- 
ridge,  perhaps  a  nobler  or  more  picturesque  figure  never 
stood  in  the  presence  of  men.  His  altitude  was  five  feet 
ten  and  a  half  inches,  his  weight  one  hundred  and  ninety 
pounds.  Harmonious  in  person,  and  free  in  gesture,  he 
spoke,  as  usual,  with  animation,  yet  with  undisturbed 
dignity.  The  picture  in  this  volume  represents  him  as 
he  then  appeared.  It  is  from  a  photo  by  W.  L.  Germon,  of 
Philadelphia,  taken  between  the  dates  of  this  last  speech 
and  Baker's  death.  It  gives  the  eagle  look  and  the  flash 
of  the  eye. 

Reader,  you  say,  He  was  a  fine-looking  man.  Yes,  he 
was  a  good  man  to  look  at,  as  well  as  listen  to,  and  he  was 
universally  beloved,  being  as  good-hearted  as  he  was  good- 
looking.  You  see  his  nature  in  his  face. 

The  apparition  of  the  Tarpeian  Rock,  brought  into 

244 


The  Reply  to  Breckinridge. 

this  speech  at  the  suggestion  of  Senator  Fessenden,  of 
Maine,  was  regarded  as  felicitous  even  by  the  orator's 
political  opponents.  But  Breckinridge  at.  first  believed 
that  it  was  Sumner,  of  Massachusetts,  who  whispered  the 
word  to  Baker,  and  that  the  act  was  more  malicious  than 
clever. 


245 


THE  BEPLY  TO  BBECKINBIDGE.* 

MB.  PKESIDENT,  it  has  not  been  my 
fortune  to  participate  in,  at  any  length, 
indeed,  nor  to  hear  very  much  of  the 
discussion  which  has  been  going  on — 
more,  I  think,  in  the  hands  of  the  Sen 
ator  from  Kentucky  than  anybody  else  — 
upon  all  the  propositions  connected  with 
this  war;  and,  as  I  really  feel  as  sincerely 
as  he  can  an  earnest  desire  to  preserve 
the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  for 
everybody,  South  as  well  as  North,  I 
have  listened  for  some  little  time  past  to 
what  he  has  said,  with  an  earnest  desire 
to  apprehend  the  point  of  his  objection 
to  this  particular  bill.  And  now  — waiv- 

*  In  this  debate  Senator  Breckinridge  referred  to 
Baker  as  "  the  Senator  from  California."  Baker,  correct 
ing,  said  "Oregon."  Breckinridge  responded:  "The 
Senator  seems  to  have  charge  of  the  whole  Pacific  Coast, 
though  I  do  not  mean  to  intimate  that  the  Senators  from 
California  are  not  entirely  able  and  willing  to  take  care 
of  their  own  State.  They  are.  The  Senator  from  Oregon, 
then." 

247 


Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

ing  what,  I  think,  is  the  elegant  but  loose 
declamation  in  which  he  chooses  to  in 
dulge — I  would  propose,  with  my  habit 
ual  respect  for  him,  (for  nobody  is  more 
courteous  and  more  gentlemanly,)  to  ask 
him  if  he  will  be  kind  enough  to  tell  me 
what  single  particular  provision  there  is 
in  this  bill  which  is  in  violation  of  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States,  which 
I  have  sworn  to  support — one  distinct, 
single  proposition  in  the  bill. 

Mr.  BRECKINRIDGE.  I  will  state,  in 
general  terms,  that  every  one  of  them  is, 
in  my  opinion,  flagrantly  so,  unless  it 
may  be  the  last.  I  will  send  the  Senator 
the  bill,  and  he  may  comment  on  the 
sections. 

Mr.  BAKER.  Pick  out  that  one  which, 
in  your  judgment,  is  most  clearly  so. 

Mr.  BRECKINRIDGE.  They  are  all,  in 
my  opinion,  so  equally  atrocious,  that  I 
dislike  to  discriminate.  I  will  send  the 
Senator  the  bill,  and  I  teM  him  that 
every  section,  except  the  last,  in  my 

248 


The  Reply  to  Breckinridge. 

opinion,  violates  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States;  and  of  that  last  section  I 
express  no  opinion. 

Mr.  BAKER.  I  had  hoped  that  that 
respectful  suggestion  to  the  Senator 
would  enable  him  to  point  me  to  one 
section,  in  his  judgment,  most  clearly  so, 
for  they  are  not  all  alike — they  are  not 
equally  atrocious. 

Mr.  BRECKINRIDGE.  Very  nearly  so. 
There  are  ten  of  them.  The  Senator  can 
select  which  he  pleases. 

Mr.  BAKER.  Let  me  try,  then,  if  I 
must  generalize  as  the  Senator  does,  to 
see  if  I  can  get  the  scope  and  meaning 
of  this  bill.  It  is  a  bill  providing  that 
the  President  of  the  United  States  may 
declare,  by  proclamation,  in  a  certain 
given  state  of  facts,  certain  territory, 
within  the  United  States,  to  be  in  a  con 
dition  of  insurrection  and  war,  which 
proclamation  shall  be  extensively  pub 
lished  within  the  district  to  which  it 
relates.  That  is  the  first  proposition. 

249 


Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

I  ask  him  if  that  is  unconstitutional. 
That  is  a  plain  question.  Is  it  uncon 
stitutional  to  give  power  to  the  President, 
to  declare  a  portion  of  the  territory  of 
the  United  States  to  be  in  a  state  of  in 
surrection  or  rebellion?  He  will  not 
dare  to  say  it  is. 

Mr.  BBECKINEIDGE.  Mr.  President,  the 
Senator  from  Oregon  is  a  very  adroit 
debater;  and  he  discovers,  of  course,  the 
great  advantage  he  would  have  if  I  were 
to  allow  him,  occupying  the  floor,  to  ask 
me  a  series  of  questions,  and  then  make 
his  own  criticisms  on  my  responses. 
When  he  has  closed  his  speech,  if  I  deem 
it  necessary,  I  may  make  some  reply. 
At  present,  however,  I  will  answer  that 
question.  The  State  of  Illinois,  I  believe, 
is  a  military  district.  The  State  of  Ken 
tucky  is  a  military  district.  In  my  judg 
ment,  the  President  has  no  authority, 
and  Congress  has  no  right  to  confer  it 
upon  him,  to  declare  a  State  to  be  in  a 
condition  of  insurrection  or  rebellion. 

250 


/?>         OFTH* 

4  TJNIVFP^IXY   I 

, 

The  Reply  to  Breckinridge. 

Mr.  BAKER.  In  the  first  place,  the 
bill  does  not  say  a  word  about  States. 
That  is  the  first  answer. 

Mr.  BRECKINRIDGE.  Does  not  the  Sen 
ator  know,  in  fact,  that  those  States  com 
pose  military  districts  ?  It  might  as 
well  have  said  "  States "  as  to  describe 
what  is  a  State. 

Mr.  BAKIHR.  I  do;  and  that  is  the 
reason  why  I  suggest  to  the  honorable 
Senator  that  this  criticism  about  States 
does  not  mean  anything  at  all.  That  is 
the  very  point.  The  objection  certainly 
ought  not  to  be  that  he  can  declare  a 
part  of  a  State  in  insurrection,  and  not 
the  whole  of  it.  In  point  of  fact,  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States,  and 
the  Congress  of  the  United  States  acting 
upon  it,  are  not  treating  of  States  but  of 
the  territory  comprising  the  United 
States;  and  I  submit  once  more  to  his 
better  judgment  that  it  cannot  be  uncon 
stitutional  to  allow  the  President  to  de 
clare  a  county  or  a  part  of  a  county,  or 

251 


Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

a  town  or  a  part  of  a  town,  or  part  of  a 
State,  or  the  whole  of  a  State,  or  two 
States,  or  five  States,  in  a  condition  of 
insurrection,  if,  in  his  judgment,  that  be 
the  fact.  That  is  not  wrong. 

In  the  next  place,  it  provides  that  that 
being  so,  the  military  commander  in  that 
district  may  make  and  publish  such  police 
rules  and  regulations  as  he  may  deem 
necessary  to  suppress  the  rebellion  and 
restore  order  and  preserve  the  lives  and 
property  of  citizens.  I  submit  to  him 
that  if  the  President  has  power — we 
ought  to  have  power  to  suppress  insur 
rection  and  rebellion — is  there  any  better 
way  to  do  it,  or  is  there  any  other  way? 
The  gentleman  says,  Do  it  by  the  civil 
power.  Look  at  the  fact.  The  civil  power 
is  utterly  overwhelmed;  the  courts  are 
closed ;  the  judges  banished.  Is  the  Pres 
ident  not  to  execute  the  law  ?  Is  he  to  do 
it  in  person,  or  by  his  military  command 
ers  ?  Are  they  to  do  it  with  regulation, 
or  without  it  ?  That  is  the  only  question. 

252 


The  Reply  to  Breckinridge. 

The  honorable  Senator  says  there  is  a 
state  of  war.  The  Senator  from  Yer- 
mont  agrees  with  him;  or  rather,  he 
agrees  with  the  Senator  from  Vermont 
in  that.  What  then?  There  is  a  state 
of  public  war;  none  the  less  war  because 
it  is  urged  from  the  other  side;  not  the 
less  war  because  it  is  unjust;  not  the  less 
war  because  it  is  a  war  of  insurrection 
and  rebellion.  It  is  still  war;  and  I  am 
willing  to  say  it  is  public  war — public, 
as  contradistinguished  from  private  war. 
What  then  ?  Shall  we  carry  that  war  on  ? 
Is  it  his  duty  as  a  Senator  to  carry  it 
on  ?  If  so,  how  ?  If  it  is  a  public  war, 
how?  By  armies,  under  command;  by 
military  organization  and  authority,  ad 
vancing  to  suppress  insurrection  and 
rebellion.  Is  that  wrong  ?  Is  that  un 
constitutional  ?  Are  we  not  bound  to 
do  with  whoever  levies  war  against  us 
as  with  a  foreigner  ?  There  is  no  dis 
tinction  as  to  the  mode  of  carrying  on 
war.  We  carry  on  war  against  an  advan- 

253 


Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

cing  army  just  the  same,  whether  it  be 
from  Russia  or  from  South  Carolina. 
Will  the  honorable  Senator  tell  me  if  it 
is  our  duty  to  stay  here,  within  fifteen 
miles  of  the  enemy  preparing  to  march 
upon  us,  and  talk  about  nice  questions 
of  Constitutional  construction,  as  to 
whether  it  is  war  or  merely  insurrec 
tion  ?  No,  sir.  It  is  our  duty  to  advance, 
too,  if  we  can;  to  suppress  insurrection; 
to  put  down  rebellion;  to  dissipate  the 
rising;  to  scatter  the  enemy;  and  when 
we  have  done  so,  to  preserve,  in  the  terms 
of  the  bill,  the  liberty,  lives,  and  prop 
erty  of  the  people  of  the  country,  by  just 
and  fair  police  regulations.  Did  not  we 
do  this  when  we  took  Monterey,  in  Mex 
ico  ?  Did  we  not  do  it  when  we  took  the 
Mexican  capital?  Is  it  not  a  part — a 
necessary,  an  indispensable  part — of  war 
itself,  that  there  shall  be  military  regula 
tions  over  the  country  that  is  conquered 
and  held  ?  Is  that  unconstitutional  ? 
I  think  it  was  a  mere  play  of  words 

254 


The  Reply  to  Breckinridge. 

that  the  Senator  indulged  in,  when  he 
attempted  to  answer  the  Senator  from 
New  York.  I  did  not  understand  the 
Senator  from  New  York  to  mean  any 
thing  substantially  but  this:  that  the 
Constitution  deals  generally  with  a  state 
of  peace,  and  that,  when  war  is  declared, 
it  leaves  the  condition  of  public  affairs  to 
be  determined  by  the  law  of  war  in  the 
country  where  the  war  exists.  It  is  true 
that  the  Constitution  does  not  adopt  the 
laws  of  war  as  a  part  of  the  instrument 
itself  during  the  continuance  of  war.  The 
Constitution  does  not  provide  that  spies 
shall  be  hung.  Is  it  unconstitutional  to 
hang  a  spy  ?  There  is  no  provision  for 
it  in  terms  in  the  Constitution;  but 
nobody  denies  the  right,  the  power, 
the  justice.  Why?  Because  it  is  a  part 
of  the  law  of  war.  The  Constitution  does 
not  provide  for  the  exchange  of  prison 
ers;  yet  it  may  be  done  under  the  law 
of  war.  Indeed,  the  Constitution  does 
not  provide  that  a  prisoner  may  be  taken 

255 


Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

at  all,  yet  his  captivity  is  perfectly  just 
and  Constitutional.  It  seems  to  me  that 
the  Senator  does  not,  will  not,  take  that 
view  of  the  subject. 

Again,  sir,  when  a  military  commander 
advances  (as  I  trust,  if  there  are  no  more 
unexpected  great  reverses,  he  will  ad 
vance)  through  Virginia,  and  occupies  the 
country,  there,  perhaps,  as  here,  the  civil 
law  may  be  silent;  there,  perhaps,  the 
civil  officers  may  flee,  as  ours  have  been 
compelled  to  flee.  What  then  ?  If  the 
civil  law  is  silent,  who  shall  control  and 
regulate  the  conquered  district — who  but 
the  military  commander?  As  the  Sen 
ator  from  Illinois  has  well  said,  shall  it 
be  done  by  regulation  or  without  regula 
tion  ?  Shall  the  general,  or  the  colonel, 
or  the  captain,  be  supreme,  or  shall  he 
be  regulated  and  ordered  by  the  Presi 
dent  of  the  United  States  ?  That  is  the 
sole  question.  The  Senator  has  put  it 
well. 

I  agree  that  we  ought  to  do  all  we  can 

256 


The  Reply  to  Breckinridge. 

to  limit,  to  fetter,  to  restrain,  the  use  of 
military  power.  Bayonets  are,  at  best, 
illogical  arguments.  I  am  not  willing, 
except  as  a  case  of  sheerest  necessity, 
ever  to  permit  a  military  commander  to 
exercise  authority  over  life,  liberty,  and 
property.  But,  sir,  it  is  part  of  the  law 
of  war;  you  cannot  carry  in  the  rear  of 
your  army  your  courts;  you  cannot  or 
ganize  juries;  you  cannot  have  trials 
according  to  the  forms  and  ceremonial 
of  the  common  law  amid  the  clangor  of 
arms ;  and  somebody  must  enforce  police 
regulations  in  a  conquered  or  occupied 
district.  I  ask  the  Senator  from  Ken 
tucky  again,  respectfully,  is  that  Constitu 
tional  ?  Or  if  in  the  nature  of  war  it  must 
exist,  even  if  there  be  no  law  passed  by 
us  to  allow  it,  is  it  unconstitutional  to 
regulate  it?  That  is  the  question  to 
which  I  do  not  think  he  will  make  a 
clear  and  distinct  reply. 

Now,  sir,  I  have  shown  him  two  sections 
of  the  bill    (which    I    do    not  think  he 

257 


Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

will  repeat  earnestly)  are  unconstitutional. 
I  do  not  think  that  he  will  seriously  deny 
that  it  is  perfectly  Constitutional  to  limit, 
to  regulate,  to  control — to  confer  and 
restrain  at  the  same  time— authority  in 
the  hands  of  military  commanders.  I 
think  it  is  wise  and  judicious  to  regulate 
it  by  virtue  of  powers  to  be  placed  in 
the  hands  of  the  President  by  law. 

Now,  a  few  words,  and  a  few  only,  as 
to  the  Senator's  predictions.  The  Sen 
ator  stands  up  here  in  a  manly  way  in 
opposition  to  what  he  sees  is  the  over 
whelming  sentiment  of  the  Senate,  and 
utters  reproof,  malediction,  and  predic 
tion  combined.  Well,  sir,  it  is  not  every 
prediction  that  is  prophecy.  It  is  the 
easiest  thing  in  the  world  to  do,  except 
to  be  mistaken,  when  we  have  predicted. 
I  confess,  Mr.  President,  that  I  would 
not  have  predicted  three  weeks  ago  the 
disasters  which  have  overtaken  our  arms; 
and  I  do  not  think,  if  I  were  to  predict 
now,  that  six  months  hence  the  Senator 

258 


The  Reply  to  Breckinridge. 

will  indulge  in  the  same  tone  of  predic 
tion  which  is  his  favorite  key  now.  I 
would  ask  him:  What  would  you  have 
us  do  now — a  Confederate  army  within 
twenty  miles  of  us,  advancing,  or  threat 
ening  to  advance,  to  overwhelm  your 
Government,  to  shake  the  pillars  of  the 
Union;  to  bring  it  around  your  head,  if 
you  stay  here,  in  ruins  ?  Are  we  to  stop, 
and  talk  about  an  uprising  sentiment  in 
the  North  against  the  war?  Are  we  to 
predict  evil,  and  retire  from  what  we 
predict?  Is  it  not  the  manly  part  to  go 
on  as  we  have  begun,  to  raise  money,  and 
levy  armies,  to  organize  them,  to  prepare 
to  advance;  where  we  do  advance,  to 
regulate  that  advance  by  all  the  laws  and 
rules  that  civilization  and  humanity  will 
allow? 

Can  we  do  anything  more  ?  It  is  idle 
to  talk  to  us  about  stopping;  we  will 
never  stop.  Will  the  Senator  yield  to 
rebellion?  Will  he  shrink  from  armed 
insurrection?  Will  his  State  justify  it? 

259 


Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

Will  its  better  public  opinion  allow  it? 
Shall  we  send  a  flag  of  truce?  What 
would  he  have?  Or  would  he  conduct 
this  war  so  feebly  that  the  world  would 
smile  in  derision?  These  speeches  of 
his,  sown  broadcast  over  the  land,  what 
clear,  distinct  meaning  have  they?  Are 
they  not  intended  for  disorganization  in 
our  very  midst?  Are  they  not  designed 
to  dull  our  weapons,  to  destroy  our  zeal, 
to  animate  our  foes  ?  Sir,  are  they  not 
words  of  brilliant,  polished  treason,  even 
in  the  very  capitol  of  the  Republic? 
[Applause  in  the  galleries,  promptly 
checked  by  the  presiding  officer.] 

What  would  have  been  thought,  if,  in 
another  capitol,  in  another  republic,  in 
a  yet  more  martial  age,  a  Senator  as 
grave,  not  more  eloquent  or  dignified, 
than  the  Senator  from  Kentucky,  yet 
with  the  Eoman  purple  flowing  over  his 
shoulders,  had  risen  in  his  place,  sur 
rounded  by  all  the  illustrations  of  Roman 
glory,  and  declared  that  advancing  Han- 

260 


The  Reply  to  Breckinridge. 

nibal  was  just,  and  that  Carthage  ought 
to  be  dealt  with  in  terms  of  peace  ?  What 
would  have  been  thought,  if,  after  the 
battle  of  Cannae,  a  Senator  there  had 
risen  in  his  place  and  denounced  every 
levy  of  the  Eoman  people,  every  expen 
diture  of  its  treasure,  and  every  appeal 
to  the  old  recollections  and  the  old 
glories? 

[Senator  William  Pitt  Fessenden,  of 
Maine,  here  whispered  to  the  speaker: 
"He  would  have  been  hurled  from  the 
Tarpeian  Rock." 

Sir,  a  Senator,  himself  learned  far 
more  than  myself  in  such  lore,  tells  me, 
in  a  voice  that  I  am  glad  is  audible,  that 
he  would  have  been  hurled  from  the 
Tarpeian  Rock.  It  is  a  grand  commen 
tary  upon  the  American  Constitution  that 
we  permit  the  words  of  the  Senator  from 
Kentucky  to  be  uttered  here.  I  ask  the 
Senator  to  recollect,  too,  what,  save  to 
send  aid  and  comfort  to  the  enemy,  do 
these  predictions  of  his  amount  to? 

261 


Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

Every  word  thus  uttered  falls  as  a  note 
of  inspiration  upon  every  Confederate 
ear.  Every  sound  thus  uttered  is  a  word 
(and,  falling  from  his  lips,  a  mighty 
word,)  of  kindling  and  triumph  to  a  foe 
that  determines  to  advance  upon  us. 
For  me,  I  have  no  such  word  to  utter  as 
a  Senator.  For  me,  amid  temporary 
defeat,  disaster,  disgrace,  it  seems  that 
my  duty  calls  me  to  utter  another  word, 
and  that  word  is  bold,  sudden,  forward, 
determined  war,  according  to  the  laws  of 
war,  by  armies,  by  military  commanders, 
clothed  with  full  power,  advancing  with 
all  the  past  glories  of  the  Republic 
urging  them  on  to  conquest. 

I  do  not  stop  to  consider  whether  it 
is  subjugation  or  not.  It  is  compulsory 
obedience,  not  to  my  will,  not  to  yours, 
sir;  not  to  the  will  of  any  one  man, 
not  to  the  will  of  any  one  State;  but 
compulsory  obedience  to  the  Constitu 
tion  of  the  whole  country.  The  Senator 
chose  the  other  day  again  and  again  to 
262 


The  Reply  to  Breckinriclge. 

animadvert  on  a  single  expression  in  a 
little  speech  which  I  delivered  before 
the  Senate,  in  which  I  took  occasion  to 
say  that  if  the  people  of  the  rebellious 
States  would  not  govern  themselves  as 
States,  they  ought  to  be  governed  as 
Territories.  The  Senator  knew  full  well 
then — for  I  explained  twice, — he  knows 
full  well  now — that  on  this  side  of  the 
chamber,  nay,  in  this  whole  North  and 
West,  in  all  the  loyal  States,  in  all  their 
breadth,  there  is  not  a  man  among  us  all 
who  dreams  of  causing  any  man  in  the 
South  to  submit  to  any  rule,  either  as  to 
life,  liberty,  or  property,  that  we  our 
selves  do  not  willingly  agree  to  yield  to. 
Did  he  ever  think  of  that  ?  Subjugation 
for  what?  When  we  subjugate  South 
Carolina,  what  shall  we  do  ?  We  shall 
compel  her  obedience  to  the  Constitution 
of  the  United  States ;  that  is  all.  Why 
play  upon  words  ?  We  do  not  mean,  we 
have  never  said,  any  more.  If  it  be  slavery 
that  men  should  obey  the  Constitution 

263 


Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

that  their  fathers  fought  for,  let  it  be  so. 
If  it  be  freedom,  it  is  freedom  equally 
for  them  and  for  us.  We  propose  to 
subjugate  rebellion  into  loyalty;  we  pro 
pose  to  subjugate  insurrection  into  peace ; 
we  propose  to  subjugate  Confederate 
anarchy  into  Constitutional  Union  liberty. 
The  Senator  well  knows  that  we  propose 
no  more.  I  ask  him,  I  appeal  to  his 
better  judgment  now,  what  does  he 
imagine  we  intend  to  do,  if,  fortunately, 
we  conquer  Tennessee  or  South  Carolina, 
—  call  it  "  conquer,"  if  you  will.  They 
will  have  their  courts  still;  they  will 
have  their  ballot-boxes  still;  they  will 
have  their  elections  still ;  they  will  have 
taxation  and  representation  still;  they 
will  have  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  still ; 
they  will  have  every  privilege  they  ever 
had.  When  the  Confederate  armies  are 
scattered;  when  their  leaders  are  ban 
ished  from  power;  when  the  people 
return  to  a  late  repentant  sense  of  the 
wrong  they  have  done  to  a  Government 

264 


The  Reply  to  Breckinridge. 

they  never  felt  but  in  benignancy  and 
blessing,  then  the  Constitution  made  for 
all  will  be  felt  by  all,  like  the  descend 
ing  rains  of  heaven  which  bless  all  alike. 
Is  that  subjugation?  To  restore  what 
was,  as  it  was,  for  the  benefit  of  the 
whole  country  and  of  the  whole  human 
race,  is  all  we  desire,  and  all  we  can 
have. 

Gentlemen  talk  about  the  Northeast. 
I  appeal  to  Senators  from  the  Northeast. 
Is  there  a  man  in  all  your  States  who 
advances  upon  the  South  with  any  other 
idea  than  to  restore  the  Constitution  of 
the  United  States  in  its  spirit  and  its 
unity?  I  never  heard  that  one.  I  be 
lieve  no  man  indulges  in  any  dream  of 
inflicting  there  any  wrong  to  public  lib 
erty;  and  I  respectfully  tell  the  Senator 
from  Kentucky  that  he  persistently,  ear 
nestly — I  will  not  say  willfully — misrep 
resents  the  sentiment  of  the  North  and 
West  when  he  attempts  to  teach  these  doc 
trines  to  the  Confederates  of  the  South. 

265 


Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

While  I  am  predicting,  I  will  tell  you 
another  thing.  This  threat  about  money 
and  men  amounts  to  nothing.  Some  of  the 
States  which  have  been  named  in  that 
connection  I  know  well.  I  am  sure  that 
no  temporary  defeat,  no  momentary  dis 
aster,  will  swerve  Illinois  from  her  alle 
giance  to  the  Union.  It  is  not  with  us  a 
question  of  money  or  of  blood;  it  is  a 
question  involving  considerations  higher 
than  these.  When  the  Senator  from  Ken 
tucky  speaks  of  the  Pacific,  I  see  another 
distinguished  friend  from  Illinois  [Sen 
ator  James  A.  McDougall],  now  worthily 
representing  the  State  of  California,  who 
will  bear  me  witness  that  I  know  that 
State,  too,  well.  I  take  the  liberty — I 
know  that  I  but  utter  his  sentiments — to 
say  that  that  State  will  be  true  to  the 
Union  to  the  last  of  her  blood  and 
treasure.  There  may  be  some  disaffected 
men  there,  some  few  who  would  "rather 
rule  in  hell  than  serve  in  heaven."  There 
are  such  men  everywhere.  There  are  a 


The  Reply  to  Breckinridge. 

few  men  there,  who  have  left  the  South 
for  the  good  of  the  South;  who  are  per 
verse,  violent,  destructive,  revolutionary, 
and  opposed  to  social  order.  A  few,  but 
a  very  few,  thus  formed,  and  thus  nur 
tured,  in  California  and  in  Oregon,  both 
persistently  endeavor  to  create  and  main 
tain  mischief;  but  the  great  portion  of 
our  population  are  loyal  to  the  core,  and 
in  every  chord  of  their  hearts.  They  are 
offering  to  add  to  the  legions  of  the 
country,  every  day,  by  the  hundred  and 
the  thousand.  They  are  willing  to  come 
thousands  of  miles,  with  their  arms  on 
their  shoulders,  at  their  own  expense,  to 
share,  with  the  best  offering  of  their 
hearts'  blood,  in  the  great  struggle  of 
Constitutional  liberty.  I  tell  the  Senator 
that  his  predictions,  sometimes  for  the 
South,  sometimes  for  the  Middle  States, 
sometimes  for  the  Northeast,  and  theu 
wandering  away  in  airy  visions  out  to  the 
far  Pacific,  are  false  in  sentiment,  false  in 
fact,  and  false  in  loyalty.  The  Senator 

267 


Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

from  Kentucky  is  mistaken  in  them  all. 
Five  hundred  million  dollars !  What 
then?  Great  Britain  gave  more  than 
two  thousand  millions  in  the  great  battle 
for  Constitutional  liberty  which  she  led 
at  one  time  almost  single-handed  against 
the  world. 

Five  hundred  thousand  men?  What 
then?  They  are  the  children  of  the 
country,  and  we  will  give  them  all  up 
before  we  will  abate  one  word  of  our  just 
demand,  or  retreat  one  inch  from  the 
dividing  line  between  right  and  wrong. 

When  we  give  them,  we  know  their 
value.  Knowing  their  value,  we  give 
them  with  the  more  pride  and  the  more 
joy.  Sir,  how  can  we  retreat?  Sir,  how 
can  we  make  peace?  Who  shall  treat? 
What  commissioners?  Who  would  go? 
Upon  what  terms?  Where  is  to  be  your 
boundary  line?  Where  the  end  of  the 
principles  we  shall  have  to  give  up? 
What  will  become  of  Constitutional  Gov 
ernment?  What  will  become  of  public 


The  Reply  to  Breckinridge. 

liberty?  What  of  past  glories?  What 
of  future  hopes  ?  Shall  we  sink  into  the 
insignificance  of  the  grave,  a  degraded, 
defeated,  emasculated  people,  frightened 
by  the  results  of  one  battle,  and  scared 
at  the  visions  raised  by  the  imagination 
of  the  Senator  from  Kentucky  on  this 
floor?  No,  sir;  a  thousand  times  no, 
sir!  We  will  rally, —  if,  indeed,  our 
words  be  necessary, — we  will  rally  the 
people,  the  loyal  people,  of  the  whole 
country.  They  will  pour  forth  their 
treasure,  their  men,  without  stint,  with 
out  measure.  The  most  peaceable  man 
in  this  body  may  stamp  his  foot  upon 
this  Senate  chamber  floor  as  of  old  a 
warrior  and  Senator  did,  and  from  that 
single  tramp  there  will  spring  forth 
armed  legions.  Shall  one  battle  de 
termine  the  fate  of  empire  ?  Or  a 
dozen?  The  loss  of  a  thousand  men?  Or 
twenty  thousand?  Or  one  hundred  mil 
lion  dollars?  Or  five  hundred  million 
dollars?  In  a  year's  peace,  in  ten  years, 

269 


Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

at  most,  of  peaceful  progress,  we  can 
restore  them  all.  There  will  be  some 
graves  reeking  with  blood,  watered  by 
the  tears  of  affection;  there  will  be  some 
loss  of  luxury,  some  privation,  somewhat 
more  need  for  labor  to  procure  the  neces 
saries  of  life.  When  that  is  said,  all  is 
said.  If  we  have  the  country,  the  whole 
country,  the  Union,  the  Constitution,  free 
government — with  these  there  will  return 
all  the  blessings  of  well-ordered  civiliza 
tion;  the  path  of  the  country  will  be  a 
career  of  greatness  and  glory,  such  as,  in 
the  olden  time,  our  fathers  saw  in  the 
dim  visions  of  years  yet  to  come,  and 
such  as  would  have  been  ours  now,  to 
day,  but  for  the  treason  for  which  the 
Senator  too  often  seeks  to  apologize. 


270 


THE    DEATH    OF    BAKEE 


THE  DEATH  OF  BAKER 

THE  reply  to  Breckinridge  was  Baker's 
last  speech.  He  went  back  at  once  to 
the  field  of  war,  and  in  the  uniform  of  a 
colonel,  but  commanding  a  brigade,  he 
fell  at  the  battle  of  Edward's  Ferry,  or 
Ball's  Bluff,  on  the  Virginia  side  of  the 
Potomac,  on  the  21st  of  October,  1861.* 

Any  person,  having  known  Baker  well, 
upon  being  told  simply  that  he  had  been 
killed  in  battle,  could  catch  in  fancy  the 
echoes  of  the  conflict — the  beat  of  drums, 
the  blare  of  bugles,  the  clash  of  sabers, 
all  the  roar  of  onset  and  the  shock  of 
recoil.  It  was  his  proud  claim  that  he 
"  could  lead  men  anywhere  " ;  and  with 
his  ardent  nature,  and  the  fields  of  glory 
behind  him,  it  seems  he  should  have 

*That  love  of  country  which  has  inspired  the  strongest 
minds  sways  us  most  powerfully  when  it  combines  with 
the  tastes  of  the  mind,  the  affections  of  the  heart,  and 
the  habitudes  of  the  imagination.—  Madame  de  Stael. 

273 


Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

died,  if  perish  he  must,  in  actual  charge, 
or  hand-to-hand  struggle,  yielding  his 
breath  on  severe  terms;  that  it  should 
not  have  been  a  sudden  extinguishment, 
but  that  he  should  have  continued  to  fight, 
even  after  receiving  mortal  hurt;  un 
horsed,  but  defiant  still,  beating  down 
his  assailants,  until  nature  could  do  no 
more.  The  catastrophe  recalls  into  view 
—  over  a  wide  stretch  of  time  —  another 
strong  and  martial  figure  (although 
fictitious) :  — 

The  war  that  for  a  space  did  fail, 

Now,  trebly  thundering,  swelled  the  gale, 

And  "Stanley!  "  was  the  cry  ; — 
A  light  on  Marmion's  visage  spread, 

And  fired  his  glazing  eye. 
With  dying  hand  above  his  head, 
He  shook  the  fragment  of  his  blade, 

And  shouted,  "  Victory !  — 
Charge,  Chester,  charge !  on,  Stanley,  on !  " 
Were  the  last  words  of  Marmion. 

A  like  stirring  scene  might  have  marked 
Baker's  end  at  a  much  earlier  period  of 

274 


The  Death  of  Baker. 

human  warfare,  when,  with  weapons  now 
antiquated,  individual  nobility  was  more 
in  view,  and,  by  consequence,  more  in 
peril.  Or,  struck  down  too  soon,  our 
warrior  might  easily  be  pictured  as  in 
the  thick  of  the  very  mele"e  his  own  fall 
at  once  brought  about. 

A  superior  force  had  accumulated  in 
his  front;  the  Potomac,  which  he  had 
just  crossed,  ran  close  in  the  rear.  There 
is  a  long  and  thrilling  narrative  by  Geo. 
Wilkes,  in  which  he  dwells  on  Baker's 
fine  bearing  when  he  found  that  he  was 
taken  in  the  toils.  He  caught  sight  of  a 
white-haired  officer  riding  near  the 
enemy's  front,  and  called  for  a  pistol, 
exclaiming  "There  is  Gen.  Johnston; 
fire,  boys,  fire !"  As  he  reached  forward 
to  receive  the  weapon,  a  very  tall,  red- 
haired  man  emerged  suddenly  from  the 
smoke,  and,  walking  quickly  up  to  within 
five  feet  of  Baker,  presented  a  self-cock 
ing  revolver,  and,  rapidly  as  he  could 
crook  his  finger,  delivered  all  the  bullets 

276 


Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

it  contained  into  the  hero's  body.  At 
the  very  same  moment  a  musket-ball 
sped  through  his  skull,  and  a  terrific 
whirling  slug  from  a  Mississippi  yager 
tore  away  the  muscle  of  the  right  arm 
and  opened  a  large  hole  into  his  side. 
"All  these  death-dealing  shots  seemed 
to  strike  at  once,  and  the  noble  leader 
and  orator,  matchless  of  the  earth,  fell 
mute,  to  speak  no  more.  The  tragedy 
had  paralyzed  all  beholders  for  the 
moment;  but  Captain  Beirel,  recovering 
his  self-possession  first,  rushed  at  the 
slayer  as  he  bent  to  seize  the  General's 
sword,  took  him  by  the  throat,  and, 
placing  his  pistol  at  his  temple,  blew  out 
his  brains  in  a  red  fume.  Beirel  had 
been  followed  in  his  onslaught  by  several 
members  of  his  company,  and  numbers 
of  the  enemy  had  pressed  forward  to 
protect  their  red-haired  comrade  as  they 
saw  the  avenger  rush  toward  him.  A 
savage  hand-to-hand  fight  ensued  over 
the  General's  corse.  Sword-thrust,  bay- 

276 


The  Death  of  Baker. 

onet-stab,  and  pistol-shot  intermingled 
quickly  in  that  ferocious  episode,  and 
the  body  of  the  dead  chieftain,  though 
trampled  in  the  mele"e,  lay  smiling  in  its 
new-found  quiet,  as  if  approving  of  the 
scene." 

Smiling  in  death !  To  the  eye  of  fancy 
the  bright  form  of  GLORY  was  hovering 
over  the  tumult.  She  had  always  lis 
tened  to  his  pledges  and  applauded  his 
passion,  and  now  she  accepted  his  sacri 
fice.  She  had  kindled  his  visage  full 
often — at  Cerro  Gordo,  at  that  trans 
cendent  scene  in  the  American  Theater, 
all  along  his  shining  path.  She  now 
poured  her  illumination  into  his  fine 
face,  before  it  could  take  on  the  inflex 
ible  majesty  of  the  last  sleep. 

The  body  was  recovered  and  conveyed 
to  the  river.  "Then,"  says  Wilkes,  "a 
sense  of  the  great  loss  brought  the  tears 
coursing  down  many  a  smoke-smeared 
cheek." 

Baker  belonged  to  a  healthy,  long- 
277 


Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

lived  race;  and  he  was,  indeed,  cut  off 
in  his  prime.  His  parents  were  members 
of  the  Society  of  Friends,  and  their  settle 
ment  at  Philadelphia,  on  removing  from 
England,  was  influenced  by  the  fact  that 
a  strong  community  of  that  sect  existed 
in  that  city.  The  father,  Edward  Baker, 
introduced  there  the  Lancasterian  System 
of  Schools.*  The  mother's  maiden  name 
was  Lucy  Dickinson;  she  was  a  sister  of 
Thomas  Dickinson,  a  high  officer  in  the 
British  navy.  She  was  an  intellectual 
woman,  and  a  writer  of  verse.  She  saw 
the  whole  career  of  her  son,  surviving 
him  and  attaining  a  great  age.  Baker 
wrote  her  the  first  letter  bearing  his 
frank  as  United  States  Senator.  She 
was  then  past  eighty,  with  mental  powers 

*  Joseph  Lancaster,  educator,  born  in  London,  Eng 
land,  1788,  came  to  America  in  1818;  and  died  in  New 
York  City,  October  24, 1838.  He,  too,  was  of  the  Society  of 
Friends.  His  "system"  was  the  plan  of  employing  the 
more  advanced  pupils  to  instruct  the  class  next  below 
them,  a  plan  originally  introduced  into  England  from 
India  by  Dr.  Andrew  Bell,  with  whom  Lancaster  had  an 
acrimonious  controversy  as  to  which  of  the  two  was 
entitled  to  priority. 

278 


The  Death  of  Baker. 

undimmed.  She  had  often  taken  down 
her  great  son's  speeches  in  shorthand, 
which  she  wrote  with  ease  and  elegance. 
Baker  had  three  brothers.  Alfred  C. 
Baker  was  a  physician,  who  lived  in  Barry, 
Illinois,  and  practiced  medicine  there  all 
his  life,  excepting  a  period  of  service  in 
the  army  as  surgeon.  He  was  himself  a 
clever  public  speaker.  He  died  a  few 
years  ago,  at  the  age  of  eighty-three. 
Thomas  Baker,  who  lived  in  Carrollton, 
Illinois,  while  yet  a  young  man,  was 
thrown  from  his  horse  and  dragged  to 
death,  in  1846.  Samuel  Baker  was  also 
a  young  man  when  he  died  of  cholera  in 
Pekin,  Illinois,  in  1851.  There  was  one 
sister,  who  was  born  in  Philadelphia, 
and  died  a  few  years  since  at  Sausalito, 
California,  at  the  age  of  seventy-three. 
She  was  the  wife  of  Theodore  Jerome,  a 
California  pioneer  of  '49,  and  the  mother 
of  Edward  Baker  Jerome,  now  and  so 
long  Chief  Deputy  Collector  of  Customs 
at  San  Francisco.  E.  B.  Jerome  was. 

279 


Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

captain  and  aid-de-camp  on  his  uncle's 
staff  in  Virginia. 

Baker's  children  were  E.  D.,  Jr., 
Alfred  W.,  Caroline  C.,  who  became  the 
wife  of  Robert  J.  Stevens,  and  Lucy,  the 
wife  of  Charles  Hopkins.  E.  D.,  Jr.,  was 
a  colonel  in  the  army,  and  died  at  Van 
couver,  Washington,  while  he  was  Chief 
Quartermaster  in  the  Department  of  the 
Columbia,  January  25,  1883,  aged  forty- 
four.  Alfred  W.  was  a  lieutenant,  and 
was  aide  to  his  father  at  the  fatal  day 
already  spoken  of.  He  was  a  clerk  in 
the  San  Francisco  Post  Office  for  a  very 
long  period,  and  died  here  in  April, 
1898.  Mrs.  Stevens,  whose  husband 
was  Superintendent  of  the  San  Francisco 
Mint  during  the  first  half  of  President 
Lincoln's  first  term,  is  a  widow;  so  is 
Mrs.  Hopkins;  and  both  are  living  in 
Seattle,  Washington.  E.  D.,  Jr.,  was 
married,  but  had  no  issue.  Alfred  W. 
never  married. 

Dr.  A.  C.  Baker  had  three   sons  and 

280 


The  Death  of  Baker. 

two  daughters.  None  of  the  sons  have 
had  children.  Lydell,  the  youngest, 
married  recently. 

Colonel  Baker's  wife  was  bora  in  Balti 
more,  Maryland,  and  when  sixteen  years 
of  age  was  married  to  a  Colonel  Lee, 
a  very  prominent  man  of  education  and 
refinement.  They  removed  to  Carrollton, 
Illinois,  where  they  resided  in  their  own 
elegant  dwelling,  built  for  them.  She 
became  a  widow  at  the  age  of  twenty, 
having  then  two  children,  Frank  and 
Maria  Lee.  She  and  Colonel  Baker  inter 
married  when  she  was  twenty-three  and 
he  twenty-one.  She  was  a  fine  musician 
and  sang  very  sweetly,  and  the  Colonel 
having  a  fine  tenor  voice,  they  sang  to 
gether,  and  naturally  fell  in  love. 

It  is  related  that  when  the  Colonel 
proposed  he  did  it  in  this  way,  standing 
by  her  as  she  sat  at  the  piano:  He  said, 
"Mary,  lend  me  five  dollars."  Upon 
receipt  of  the  money,  he  wrote  the  fol 
lowing  promissory  note : — 


Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

"  deceived  now,  Jive  dollars 
From  Mary  Ann  Lee, 

Which  sum  to  repay 
I  now  do  agree — 

Unless,  in  the  mean  time, 
I  shall,  fond,  take  her, 
And  change  her  dear  name 
From  Lee  unto  Baker" 

Their  pure  and  fresh  life-currents, 
united  thus  early,  flowed  on  together  for 
thirty  years.* 

Mrs.  Baker  survived  the  Colonel  a  few 
years,  dying  in  San  Francisco  at  the  age 
of  fifty-seven.  She  was  laid  by  his  side. 

The  Colonel's  "poetry,"  just  quoted, 
cost  him  less  effort,  although  proving 
more  gainful,  than  the  lines  which  follow 
on  the  next  page. 

*  Innocent  child  and  snow-white  flower, 
Well  are  ye  paired  in  your  opening  hoar! 
Thus  should  the  pure  and  the  lovely  meet, 
Stainless  with  stainless,  and  sweet  with  sweet. 

— Bryant,  to  a  young  couple  just  wedded. 


282 


TO  A  WAVE. 

DOST  them   seek   a   star  with   thy  swelling- 

crest, 

O  wave,  that  leavest  thy  mother's  breast  ? 
Dost  thou  leap   from   the  prisoned  depths 

below, 

In  scorn  of  their  calm  and  constant  flow  ? 
Or  art  thou  seeking  some  distant  land, 
To  die  in  murmurs  upon  the  strand  ? 

Hast  thou  tales  to  tell  of  pearl-lit  deep, 
Where  the  wave-whelmed  mariner  rocks  in 

sleep  ? 
Canst  thou  speak  of   navies   that  sunk  in 

pride 

Ere  the  roll  of  their  thunder  in  echo  died  ? 
What   trophies,  what  banners,  are  floating 

free 
In  the  shadowy  depths  of  that  silent  sea  ? 

It  were  vain  to  ask,  as  thou  rollest  afar, 
Of  banner,  or  mariner,  ship  or  star ; 
It  were  vain  to  seek  in  thy  stormy  face 
Some  tale  of  the  sorrowful  past  to  trace. 


Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

Thou  art  swelling  high,  thou   art   flashing 

free, 
How  vain  are  the  questions  we  ask  of  thee ! 

I  too  am  a  wave  on  a  stormy  sea ; 
I  too  am  a  wanderer,  driven  like  thee ; 
I  too  am  seeking  a  distant  land 
To  be  lost  and  gone  ere  I  reach  the  strand. 
For  the  land  I  seek  is  a  waveless  shore, 
And  they  who  once  reach  it  shall  wander  no 
more. 


These  lines  were  written  by  Baker  in 
the  year  1849.  Shortly  after  his  death, 
Colonel  John  W.  Forney,  proprietor  of 
the  Philadelphia  Press,  corresponding 
with  his  paper  from  Washington  City, 
obtained  a  copy  from  an  intimate  friend 
of  Baker,  and  they  appeared  in  the  Press 
in  November,  1861. 


284 


THE    DEFENSE    OF    CORA 


ALTHOUGH  Baker's  profession  was  that  of  the  law,  and 
he  followed  it  through  life,  the  Editor  has  not  thought  it 
proper  to  make  that  fact  especially  prominent  in  these 
pages,  nor  either  to  present  him  as  a  lawyer  in  the  first 
instance,  or  let  his  last  words  be  spoken  in  that  role. 
Thus  far  his  speeches  have  been  given  in  the  order  of 
time.  It  now  becomes  convenient  to  interrupt  this 
sequence,  to  give  deserved  place  to  the  very  best  of  his 
reported  efforts  at  the  bar.  The  occasion  furnishes 
further  illustration  of  the  dissimilitudes  in  his  career. 
This  jury  address  led  to  the  speaker's  social  ostracism  for 
a  time,  at  the  hands  of  the  same  community  which,  five 
years  later,  followed  his  mortality  to  Lone  Mountain 
amid  emblems  of  universal  sorrow.  The  offense  of  the 
prisoner  then  at  the  bar,  moreover,  was  one  of  the  chief 
inducements  to  that  great  popular  uprising,  the  Vigilance 
Committee  of  1856. 

On  the  evening  of  the  17th  of  November,  1855,  General 
William  H.  Richardson,  United  States  Marshal  for  Cali 
fornia,  was  shot  and  instantly  killed  by  Charles  Cora,  a 
gambler,  on  the  sidewalk  on  Clay  Street,  southwest 
corner  of  Leidesdorff,  San  Francif-co.  There  had  been  a 
quarrel  between  the  two  men  over  the  circumstances  of 
their  attendance  at  the  theater  a  few  nights  before.  Cora 
had  brought  a  notorious  woman  of  means,  who  bore  his 
name,  into  the  dress  circle  where  General  Richardson 
was  seated  with  his  wife,  and  the  General  had  expressed 
his  indignation  in  the  hearing  of  Cora  and  the  woman. 
The  true  nature  of  the  dispute  (although  there  was  no 
allusion  to  it  during  the  trial)  and  the  opposed  stations 
of  the  characters  to  it,  were  sufficient  to  invest  the  homi 
cide  with  peculiar  odiousness  in  the  popular  mind,  and 
press  and  people  denounced  it  with  much  heat.  This 

287 


Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

feeling  ran  through  all  the  State.    Expressive  thereof  was 
this  editorial  statement  in  the  San  Francisco  Herald:  — 

"The  truth  is,  that,  from  all  accounts,  we  have  come 
to  the  conclusion  that  the  killing  of  General  Richardson 
was  a  most  atrocious  murder.  He  was  assassinated  in 
cold  blood,  without  a  single  effort  at  resistance.  Those 
who  have  known  him  as  we  have,  must  be  assured  he 
would  have  sold  his  life  dearly  if  he  had  the  slightest 
chance.  The  deceased  gentleman  was  of  a  most  kind,  gen 
erous,  and  noble  nature.  That  such  a  man  should  fall  by 
such  a  hand,  is  to  be  everlastingly  deputed." 

And  this,  from  the  Stockton  Argus:  — 

"A  man  is  shot  down  in  one  of  the  principal  streets 
in  the  chief  city  on  the  Pacific  Coast,  by  a  man  who  lives 
in  a  bawd-house,  and  who  is  instigated  to  the  murderous 
deed  by  a  harlot,  and  immediately  $40,000  is  raised  by 
subscription  to  cheat  the  law  of  its  course,  and  protect 
the  murderer  from  suffering  the  penalty  of  his  crime.  Is 
there  nothing  wrong  in  public  opinion  here?  Those  per 
sons  who  have  raised  this  large  sum  are  recognized  as 
acquaintances,  and  often  as  associates,  of  men  who  would 
not  stoop  to  any  dishonorable  act;  and  the  harlot  who 
instigated  the  murder  of  Richardson,  with  others  of  her 
kind,  are  allowed  to  visit  the  theaters  and  seat  themselves 
side  by  side  with  the  wives  and  daughters  of  citizens.  Is 
there  nothing  wrong  in  public  opinion  here?  There  is, 
and  it  should  and  must  be  corrected." 

As  a  ripple  against  the  current,  and  as  showing,  in 
charitable  possibility,  some  slight  mitigating  circum 
stance,  may  be  given  this,  from  the  evidence  taken  by 
the  Coroner :  — 

"Dr.  Mills  sworn:  I  reside  on  Stockton  Street;  was 
not  present  at  the  occurrence  last  night  [the  killing] ; 
was  present  at  the  occurrence  of  the  previous  night;  was 
in  the  Cosmopolitan  Saloon;  General  Richardson  and 
several  others  were  there ;  Mr.  Cora  was  introduced  to 
General  Richardson,  and  they  all  took  a  drink ;  went  to 
the  door  together;  Cora  returned,  and  asked,  '  Have  I  any 
friends  in  the  room?  This  man  is  going  to  slap  my  face;' 


The  Defense  of  Cora. 

General  Richardson  came  in  smiling,  and  said,  'I 
promised  to  slap  this  man's  face,  and  I  had  better  do 
it  now;'  some  person  then  said,  'Oh,  you  must  not  do  it.' 
and  the  thing  was  stopped;  some  words  afterwards 
occurred;  some  person  proposed  to  introduce  General 
Richardson  to  Cora  again,  but  it  was  not  done;  don't 
know  why;  think  the  General  was  a  little  tight;  Cora 
appeared  to  be  sober."  There  was  other  like  testimony. 

The  Coroner's  jury,  after   hearing  the   evidence  of 
sixteen  witnesses,  among  them  the  Governor  of  the  State 
John  Bigler,  found  a  verdict  that  the  killing  was  prt 
meditated,  and  there  was  nothing  to  mitigate  the  offense 

Cora  was  indicted  for  murder,  and  his  trial  was 
opened  on  the  8th  of  January,  1856,  in  the  old  Fourth 
District  Court,  Judge  John  S.  Hager,  presiding.  Hon. 
William  A.  Piper  was  foreman  of  the  jury.  This  gentle 
man,  now  a  large  capitalist,  was  a  pioneer  of  '49;  he  was 
already  a  considerable  holder  of  real  estate,  and  had  been 
a  member  of  the  Board  of  Assistant  Aldermen.  In  later 
years  he  was  a  member  of  the  National  House  of  Repre 
sentatives  (1876-76),  and  is  still  a  citizen  of  San  Francisco. 
A.  B.  Forbes,  now  and  for  so  many  years  the  general 
agent  on  this  Coast  for  the  Mutual  Life  Insurance  Com 
pany,  of  New  York,  was  another  member  of  this  jury.  He 
was  then  senior  member  of  the  firm  of  Forbes  &  Babcock, 
agents  of  the  Pacific  Mail  Steamship  Company.  The  other 
names  were  Charles  H.  Vail,  John  J.  Haley,  Edward  P. 
Flint,  M.  Joyce,  Jacob  Mayer,  Thos.  C.  D.  Olmstead,  Wil 
liam  H.  Stowell,  John  M.  Easterly,  A.  Holmes,  and  I. 
Ward  Eaton.  This  was  a  strong  and  worthy  array. 

The  prosecution  was  conducted  by  Henry  H.  Byrne, 
then  and  for  so  many  terms  District  Attorney.  His  asso 
ciates  were  Alexander  Campbell,  who  made  the  opening 
statement,  (he  is  still  in  harness,  at  a  great  age,  in  Los 
Angeles),  and  8.  W.  Inge,  who  had  represented  Alabama 
in  the  lower  house  of  Congress,  and  who  closed  the  argu 
ment.  Baker  made  the  closing  address  on  behalf  of  the 
prisoner.  Hon.  Thomas  W.  Freelon,  the  county  judge 
before  whom  Baker  had  made  a  great  plea  in  a  notable 

289 


Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

case  of  embezzlement,  went  into  Judge  Hager's  court  to 
listen  to  him  now.  Afterward  he  pronounced  the  speech 
as  "  brilliant,  eloquent,  impassioned." 

District  Attorney  Byrne  had  concluded  his  argument 
with  these  words:  "Gentlemen:  We  live  in  an  age  in 
California  resembling  the  days  of  the  breaking-up  of  the 
Roman  Empire.  Corruption  sits  in  almost  every  quarter, 
even  in  high  places.  A  man's  life  is  of  less  value  than 
that  of  a  horse ;  there  is  no  security,  for  human  life  is 
trifled  with.  Our  character  as  a  country  has  become 
stained  by  the  aspersion.  And  here  is  another  victim. 
Mercy  murders  in  pardoning  him  that  kills.  Let  this 
man  go,  and  you  create  a  pandemonium  in  Ban  Fran 
cisco." 

Gen.  McDougall,  Baker's  associate,  who  followed 
Byrne,  had  said:  "We  are  compelled  to  fight  a  foregone 
conclusion  on  the  part  of  the  community.  They  have 
judged  the  prisoner  already,  and  public  opinion  is  press 
ing  on  us  from  all  Bides.  If  this  prisoner  is  convicted,  I 
say  it  solemnly,  it  will  be  judicial  murder." 

Baker  spoke  on  January  Hth.  He  felt  his  environment, 
and  his  sensibility  constrained  him  to  take  notice  of  the 
prevailing  state  of  public  opinion;  and,  in  so  doing,  he 
paid  that  tribute  to  the  legal  profession  which  is  the  most 
beautiful  utterance  in  the  speech.  His  other  bold  decla 
ration,  in  regard  to  the  union  between  Belle  Cora  and  the 
prisoner,  that  "  they  were  bound  together  by  a  tie  which 
angels  might  not  blush  to  approve,"  was  the  subject  of 
emphatic  and  persistent  censure.  The  noble  advocate 
was  misunderstood. 

The  jury  were  unable  to  agree  upon  a  verdict.  After 
being  out  forty-one  hours,  they  were  discharged  on  Jan 
uary  17th.  It  was  learned  that  they  stood  six  for  man 
slaughter,  four  for  murder  in  the  first  degree,  and  two 
for  acquittal.  The  prisoner  was  remanded  to  the  County 
Jail.  Belle  Cora  regularly  visited  him  there.  On  one  of 
these  occasions,  in  due  form  of  law,  she  was  united  in 
marriage  to  the  man  whose  final  ignominy  was  yet  unseen ; 
and  then,  quite  possibly,  "  they  were  bound  together  by  a 

290 


The  Defense  of  Cora 

tie  which  angels  might  not  blush  to  approve."  But  it 
was  in  the  shadow  of  doom.  Before  the  time  set  for 
Cora's  second  trial,  the  GREAT  COMMITTEE  took  him.  His 
fate  was  precipitated  by  the  act  of  Casey  in  killing  the 
famous  editor  of  the  Bulletin.  James  P.  Casey,  a  local 
politician  of  some  influence,  and  foreman  of  Crescent 
Engine  Company,  No.  10,  being  editorially  arraigned  by 
James  King  of  William,  in  his  paper,  for  offenses  charged 
to  have  been  committed  in  New  York  City  several  years 
prior,  shot  Mr.  King  fatally,  on  the  street,  May  14,  1856. 
The  editor  expired  on  May  20th.  On  the  22d,  while  a 
throng  of  friends  bore  his  body  to  Lone  Mountain,  another 
multitude,  (his  friends,  too,  THE  COMMITTEE,)  marched 
by  ranks  to  the  County  Jail,  planted  a  cannon  in  front  of 
it,  took  both  Casey  and  Cora  from  their  cells,  and  publicly 
hung  them  from  the  windows  of  the  committee-rooms,  on 
Sacramento  Street,  near  Front. 

Belle  Cora  was  then  twenty-nine  years  of  age.  She 
was  a  native  of  Baltimore,  Maryland.  (Gen.  Richardson 
was  also  a  Marylander;  Cora,  an  Italian.)  Belle  con 
tinued  her  residence  and  her  occupation  in  San  Fran 
cisco,  dying  on  the  18th  of  February,  1862.  A  short  history 
of  her  life  was  circulated. 

)uring  the  reign  of  THE  COMMITTEE,  lasting  several 
months,  attended  by  other  executions  and  many  banish 
ments,  the  city  being  officially  proclaimed  by  Governor 
J.  Neely  Johnson  as  in  "a  state  of  insurrection,"  the 
plumage  of  the  "Old  Gray  Eagle"  was  badly  ruffled  by 
the  storm.  He  spread  his  wings  and  took  flight  (not  met 
aphorically  this  time)  to  the  mountains,  resting  for  a 
time  in  El  Dorado  County,  and  on  the  other  side  of  the 
Sierra,  in  Nevada.* 

The  Editor  has  seen  the  following  eloquent  allusion 
to  this  experience  of  Baker,  attributed  to  General  John 
A.  Collins;  but  when  he  accosted  him  some  years  before 
his  death,  that  worthy  man  said  he  did  not  remember 

*  The  spirit  of  the  human  race  resembles  that  of  the  individual  mam;  it 
shines  and  is  eclipsed  by  turns.— Fontanes,  1800. 

291 


Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

naving  written  it.    If  General  Collins  did  not  write  it, 
who  did? 

"  Some  years  ago  the  people  of  San  Francisco  chased 
away  an  eloquent  old  man  [but  he  was  only  forty-five— 
EDITOB],  who  took  refuge  in  the  mountains  of  Nevada. 
He  was  afterwards  brought  back  from  the  sacrificial 
heights  of  Stone  River,  a  mangled  and  speechless  prophet 
of  freedom,  and  fifty  thousand  people  laid  him  tenderly 
on  the  altitudes  of  Lone  Mountain,  within  hearing  of  the 
eternal  dirges  of  the  ocean  — while  his  glorious  words 
echoed  and  still  echo  in  the  valleys  and  mountains  from 
the  fountains  of  the  San  Joaquin  to  the  sources  of  the 
Columbia:  '  Years,  long  years  ago,  I  took  my  stand  by 
Freedom,  and  where  in  youth  my  feet  were  planted,  there 
my  manhood  and  my  age  shall  march.' " 

Our  advocate  will  now  address  the  jury. 


THE  DEFENSE  OF   COEA. 

IF  THE  COUET  PLEASE,  AND  GENTLEMEN 
OF  THE  JURY:  I  sincerely  trust  that  a 
night  of  serene  repose,  after  the  exhaust 
ing  labor  that  you  have  undergone,  has 
enabled  you  to  return  here  to-day  with 
dispositions  equal  to  those  which  you  have 
shown  during  the  whole  course  of  this 
investigation ;  and  while  I  feel  that  upon 
the  defense,  which  I  am  about  to  end, 
will,  in  some  sense,  depend  the  eternal 
welfare  of  a  human  being,  I  feel  myself 
honored  and  happy  in  being  allowed,  in 
such  a  case,  and  for  such  a  purpose,  to 
address  a  jury  who  have  proved,  not  to 
the  counsel  alone,  not  to  the  audience 
alone,  but  to  the  prisoner  himself,  a 
determination  to  render  strict  and  impar 
tial  justice;  and  I  am  instructed  to  say 
for  him,  what  he  could  not  have  said 
when  the  trial  began,  that  whatever  may 

293 


Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

be  the  end  of  this  day,  he  has  a  profound 
and  abiding  conviction  of  your  truth  and 
justice.  He  cannot  but  feel  that  to  you 
is  delegated  a  little  less  than  supreme 
power — that  none  but  the  Almighty  can 
control  the  consequences  of  your  judg 
ment;  and  with  this  painful  thought 
pressing  upon  his  mind  and  heart,  I  am 
here  to  say  for  him  that  he  is  willing  to 
trust  in  your  hands  the  issues  of  life  and 
death.  And,  gentlemen,  while  I  advance 
to  the  discussion  of  this  case,  I  cannot 
forget  the  imposing  aspect  that  is  thrown 
around  the  prisoner  on  this  occasion. 
The  whole  majesty  of  the  law  of  a  great 
and  civilized  country  —  all  that  care  in 
the  selection  of  a  jury,  and  labor  in  the 
arrangement  of  testimony,  and  zeal  on 
the  part  of  the  prosecution,  and  care  on 
the  part  of  the  defense  could  do,  has 
been  done.  And  while  it  is  true,  while 
it  is  very  true,  that  the  man  who  is  before 
you  on  trial  for  his  life,  is  a  man  of  base 
character,  and  in  some  respects  vicious  — 

294 


The  Defense  of  Cora. 

whose  position  in  life  is  low  —  whose 
condition  at  this  bar  is  that  of  loneliness, 
and  dependence  upon  one  human  being 
alone  for  sympathy  and  kindness; — with 
all  that,  he  is  here  guarded  by  the  care 
of  the  judge ;  hedged  around  by  the 
justice  of  the  jury;  protected  by  all  the 
sanctions  of  the  law;  and  poor  and  hum 
ble  and  degraded  though  he  be,  he  is 
fenced  about  and  cared  for  "  with  all  the 
divinity  that  doth  hedge  a  king." 

It  is  a  painful  and  impressive  spec 
tacle.  Nor  are  we  to  forget  that  it  is 
the  province  of  the  law  to  render  justice 
to  the  memory  of  one  who  is  no  longer 
among  us.  It  would  be  idle  for  us  to 
disguise  that  the  appeal  by  Mr.  Byrne 
(though  he  disclaims  it)  —  his  allusion 
to  the  bloody  grave,  and  the  verdant  sod, 
and  the  tearful  widow,  and  the  uncon 
scious  orphan  —  must  weigh,  and  will 
weigh,  upon  your  minds.  We  are  but 
men;  we  are  not  deprived,  by  being 
selected  for  a  seat  in  this  place,  of  the 

295 

.^it&c1"  ^fly 

f^         OF  THK 

I  UNIVERSITY 
\ 


Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

passions  and  sympathies  of  human  na 
ture  ;  and  I  am  far,  and  very  far,  from 
complaining  of  anything  that  has  been 
said,  or  may  be  said,  upon  that  subject. 
I  am  not  inclined  at  all  to  disguise  it. 
It  is  not  they  alone  who  feel  an  interest 
in  the  case ;  something  more  than  a  con 
cern  for  professional  reputation  presses 
them  to  extremes.  It  may  be  that  at  the 
very  moment  when  I  speak,  some  tearful 
woman  may  be  upon  her  knees  in  the 
depths  of  her  closet,  imploring  the 
Almighty  to  open  your  hearts  to  do  jus 
tice  to  the  memory  of  the  husband  she 
has  lost.  I  don't  complain  of  these 
things;  I  don't  shrink  from  their  being 
mentioned;  I  feel  them;  my  heart  quiv 
ers  while  I  think  of  them.  I  do  not 
wish  that  in  any  portion  of  this  trial 
you  should  forget  them. 

But  there  is  another  aspect  of  this 
case  to  be  thought  of.  The  man  who 
is  here  struggling  for  life  —  who  is 
arraigned  for  the  death  of  one  claimed 

296 


The  Defense  of  Cora. 

to  be  one  of  the  purest  of  our  citizens, 
is  said  to  have  followed  degraded  and, 
vicious  pursuits.  It  is  said  of  him  that 
he  is  cared  for  by  a  woman  of  very  bad 
relations  in  life,  whose  name,  indeed,  is 
a  reproach.  Against  this  man  at  the  bar 
the  whole  public  press  —  that  mighty 
engine  of  passion  and  power  —  have 
poured  out  all  the  concentrated  vials  of 
their  wrath  and  indignation.  Every  por 
tion  of  his  career  has  been  maligned; 
every  motive  of  his  heart  has  been  per 
verted;  every  act  of  his  life  has  been 
misrepresented;  and  imagination,  if  not 
upon  its  highest  and  purest,  upon  its 
boldest  wing,  has  applied  to  him  every 
epithet  of  reproach,  and  related  every 
narrative  of  shame.  Against  this  we  have 
but  one  defense  —  against  this  we  have 
but  one  resource,  but  one  hope.  It  is  to 
be  found  in  time,  which  tempers  all 
things  —  it  is  to  be  found  in  human  sym 
pathy  and  the  justice  of  this  tribunal  — 
in  the  merciful  consideration  of  human 

297 


Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

infirmity  —  and  at  last  in  stern,  naked, 
and  irresistible  truth.  And  if  the  lips 
about  to  speak  to  you  are  feeble,  and  if 
the  thoughts  about  to  be  uttered  are  trem 
bling  and  uncertain, —  if  our  efforts  shall 
be  marred  by  the  ingenuity,  skill,  and 
eloquence  of  the  gentleman  who  is  to 
follow, —  it  is  but  for  us  to  rely  solely 
upon  inflexible  truth;  and  it  may  be 
for  him  [pointing  to  the  prisoner],  with 
heart  and  lips  all  unused  to  prayer,  to 
lift  his  thoughts  to  the  Great  Father  of 
life,  who  made  him  as  well  as  his  Honor 
on  the  bench,  and  the  jury  in  the  box, 
to  guide,  impress,  stimulate,  and  en 
lighten  his  advocate  to  press  his  claims 
to  liberty,  life,  and  hope. 

The  prosecution  in  this  case  charge 
that  the  defendant,  on  the  night  of  the 
17th  of  November,  1855,  maliciously  and 
without  just  cause  took  the  life  of  Gen 
eral  Wm.  H.  Richardson,  Marshal  of  the 
United  States  for  the  Northern  District 
of  California;  and  that  he  is  attempting 


The  Defense  of  Cora. 

to  sustain  himself  by  a  conspiracy  against 
truth,  honesty,  and  honor;  and  the  in 
ferences  of  his  character  are,  by  compari 
son,  more  fatal  to  his  hopes,  because  they 
say  his  victim  was  a  man  of  elevated 
character  and  mind.  This  is  the  begin 
ning  of  this  case — this  is  the  end  of  this 
case — the  comparison  is  pressed  on  us 
at  every  step  we  take.  It  is  idle  for  us 
to  deny  that  the  shield  of  character  which 
we  attempt  to  hold  up  before  this  de 
fendant  is  in  many  parts  frail  and  broken. 
He  yielded  in  his  youth  to  temptations 
which,  like  thronging  devils,  have  pur 
sued  him  all  his  life,  and  he  feels  to-day 
more  bitterly  than  words  of  mine  can 
express  the  want  of  a  shield  spotless 
and  pure  in  this  moment  of  his  great 
trial.  Whether  he  be  a  man  of  unmixed 
evil,  it  is  for  you  to  determine;  whether 
there  be  not  something  of  native  good 
in  a  man  who,  amid  a  life  of  such  vice 
and  vicissitude,  has  congregated  around 
him  the  good  wishes  of  many  friends  — 

299 


Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

early  friends — friends  of  a  better  day  — 
it  is  for  you,  yes,  to  judge.  No  such  temp 
tations  crowd  upon  you.  The  men  with 
whom  you  mingle  are  not  flushed  with 
passion  or  steeped  in  crime.  With  you, 
and  with  all  of  us,  it  is  peace,  and  calm, 
and  quiet  content.  With  him  it  is  far, 
very  far  different;  and  I  say,  being  so, 
and  so  most  undoubtedly,  amid  this  career 
he  has  been  able  to  preserve  the  balance 
of  his  mind  and  the  control  of  his  tem 
per  in  regard  to  public  law,  and  in  regard 
to  private  right.  His  quiet  career  is  so 
much  at  least  to  be  remembered  in  his 
favor.  I  plead  it  for  him;  I  lay  it  before 
you;  I  ask  you  to  consider  it.  Let  it 
be  the  wand  that  will  bring  up  from  the 
depths  of  your  hearts  a  bright,  gushing 
stream  from  the  fountains  of  mercy. 
But  while  we  say  this  much,  as  to  this 
man,  we  are  not  willing  that  the  com 
parison  should  be  made  worse  than  it  is. 
We  are  not  willing  that  this  man,  while 
in  some  respects  so  vicious,  and  in  other 

300 


The  Defense  of  Cora. 

respects  so  amiable,  should  be  arrayed, 
by  way  of  comparison,  against  the  life, 
conduct,  and  character  of  another  man, 
dead  though  he  be,  with  every  virtue 
exaggerated  and  every  good  quality  in 
creased.  We  are  compelled  to  say  that 
the  argument  made  against  our  client, 
by  comparison  with  General  Richardson, 
is  false  in  fact,  and  false  in  deduction. 
We  make  the  issue ;  they  force  it  upon 
us.  I  would  be  recreant  to  our  duty,  in 
pleading  for  this  man's  life,  if  I  feared 
to  meet  this  issue,  and  I  do  not.  We 
attempted  in  the  beginning  of  this  con 
troversy  to  show  — 

1.  That  Cora,  whatever  his  other  habits 
may  have  been,  was  a  man  of  peaceful 
life  and  conduct; 

2.  That    whatever    the    character    of 
Richardson    may    have    been    in   other 
respects,  he  was  a  turbulent,  dangerous 
man. 

This  we  announced.     What  have  they 
done  ?     They    have   forced    upon   us   a 

301 


Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

broader  issue  and  a  more  extended 
debate.  They  say,  we  will  show,  that 
not  only  was  Kichardson  kind,  quiet, 
orderly,  peaceful,  but  that  he  was  a  man 
of  generous  impulses,  of  magnanimous 
conduct,  of  high  tendencies  of  gallantry, 
of  bravery,  of  chivalry, — incapable  of 
assailing  a  man  without  preparation, — 
incapable  of  deceit  in  action, —  incapable 
of  falsehood  in  statement,  or  of  aught 
unworthy  of  the  high-sounding  names 
attached  to  him.  They  got  Mr.  Nugent.* 
He  says  that  General  Richardson  was 
not  only  peaceable  and  kind,  but  chival- 
ric,  gallant,  fair,  honorable,  incapable  of 
taking  an  advantage. 

Well,  now,  it  was  impossible  for  us, 
after  that  notice,  and  after  we  heard  that 
line  of  proof,  not  to  turn  our  attention 
to  the  facts,  and  inquire  whether  this  be 
so  or  not;  and  when  we  made  up  our 
minds  to  accept  the  challenge,  and  to 

*  John  Nugent,  editor  of  the  Herald,  which  had  pro 
nounced  the  homicide  murder.  But  Mr.  Nugent  and  his 
paper  were  soon  to  oppose  the  Vigilance  Commitee. 

302 


The  Defense  of  Cora. 

enter  into  that  controversy,  we  did  it, 
well  knowing  all  the  uses  that  could  be 
made  of  it  in  declamation,  if  we  made 
the  attempt.  I  would  be  insensible  to 
the  many  merits  of  Colonel  Inge  and 
Mr.  Byrne  if  I  did  not  know  how  well 
they  will  declaim  about  the  raking  up 
of  the  ashes  of  the  dead.  They  will 
say  that  Bichardson  is  lying  now  in  his 
bloody  grave,  and  that  not  content  with 
that,  we  are  arraying  against  his  memory 
all  the  forgotten  stories  that  can  be 
recalled  of  his  past  career. 

Is  that  true?  Did  we  do  it?  Could 
we  avoid  what  we  have  done  ?  When  I 
stand  up  there  and  find  my  client  over 
whelmed  with  a  mountain  of  infamy,  and 
plunged  into  the  depths  of  degradation 
by  comparison  with  the  man  who  is  now 
lying  in  a  bloody  though  quiet  grave, 
shall  I  suffer  it  to  pass?  Never.  They 
may  declaim  till  the  heavens  fall — they 
may  accuse  us  of  want  of  feeling — of 
mercy,  of  anything  else.  I  care  not.  I 


Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

appeal  to  the  facts.  Whatever  the  pris 
oner  is,  he  was  peaceful,  amiable,  kind. 
Good  though  the  other  man  was  as  a 
husband  and  a  father,  he  was  violent, 
dangerous,  and,  in  his  anger,  deadly.  As 
for  being  magnanimous  and  honorable, 
he  was  not  so ;  but  what  he  was  from  the 
first  day  that  we  hear  of  him,  he  remained 
to  the  last — full  of  faults,  though  not 
without  redeeming  qualities.  We  must 
prove  it  by  his  general  reputation. 
What  was  that  reputation  here  ?  Why 
did  Mr.  Turner  tell  us  that  when  he 
came  in  contact  with  him,  had  it  not 
been  for  his  coolness  he  would  have  lost 
his  life?  What  was  his  reputation  the 
night  Cora  killed  him?  What  did  Tur 
ner  think  of  him  ?  What  IS  reputation  ? 
Why  are  not  we  allowed  to  make  an  in 
vestigation  as  to  specific  facts?  Why  is 
it  that,  with  the  reputation  of  a  peaceable 
man,  he  is  always  in  trouble  ?  Have  you 
been  in  trouble?  Are  you  assaulted? 
Are  you  seen  belted  behind  a  knife  and 

304 


The  Defense  of  Cora. 

pistol  day  and  night,  in  season  and  out 
of  season?  Are  you  reputed  to  be  sud 
den  and  quick  in  quarrel?  Are  your 
past  lives  checkered  with  adventure  after 
adventure,  which  your  best  friends  dare 
not  repeat?  Is  that  peace?  Are  you 
seen  at  the  very  depths  of  midnight  in 
more  than  doubtful  company,  and  reck 
less,  drunken,  desperate,  meditating  as 
sassination,  regardless  whether  your  vic 
tim  be  friend  or  foe  ?  When  they  crowd 
upon  Cora,  and  upon  Glennon,  and  upon 
Thomas,  and  upon  Whitnell,  and  upon 
Smith,  and  upon  Willis,  and  charge  in 
famy  and  perjury,  is  not  that,  to  use  the 
language  of  Mr.  Byrne,  "piling  Pelion 
upon  Ossa,  or  Ossa  upon  Pelion"? 
Shall  we  make  no  report?  What  could 
Cora  expect  from  Richardson?  Could 
he  say,  with  the  pistol  to  his  breast, 
"  This  man  is  too  magnanimous  to  shoot 
me, — he  is  too  honorable  to  assail  me, — 
he  has  lived  a  life  of  purity  and  peace 
too  long  to  vary  from  his  usual  course." 

305 


Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

Gentlemen,  there  is  no  character  to 
throw  into  the  scales  against  us.  Rich 
ardson  bore  no  flaming  sword  of  repu 
tation  to  weigh  against  our  cause  and 
make  it  touch  the  beam.  [The  advocate 
here  commented  at  great  length  upon  the 
various  passages  in  the  history  of  Gen 
eral  Richardson,  as  detailed  by  the  wit 
nesses — and  then  proceeded.] 

The  other  side  complain  that  we  have 
three  counsel,  and  they  say,  "  Cora  is 
well  able  to  pay  for  their  services.  If 
he  had  been  poor,  they  would  not  have 
been  here."  Mr.  Byrne  ought  to  think 
better  of  his  profession.  Mr.  Byrne 
ought  to  be  governed  by  better  impulses, 
or  rather,  he  ought  to  refrain  from  doing 
injustice  to  his  opponents. 

The  profession  to  which  we  belong  is, 
of  all  others,  fearless  of  public  opinion. 
It  has  ever  stood  up  against  the  tyranny 
of  monarchs  on  the  one  hand,  and  the 
tyranny  of  public  opinion  on  the  other; 
and  if,  as  the  humblest  among  them,  it 

306 


The  Defense  of  Cora. 

becomes  me  to  instance  myself,  I  may 
say  with  a  bold  heart,  and  I  do  say  it 
with  a  bold  heart,  that  there  is  not  in  all 
this  world  a  wretch,  so  humble,  so  guilty, 
so  despairing,  so  torn  with  avenging 
furies,  so  pursued  by  the  arm  of  the  law, 
so  hunted  to  cities  of  refuge,  so  fearful 
of  life,  so  afraid  of  death; — there  is  no 
wretch  so  steeped  in  all  the  agonies  of 
vice  and  crime,  that  I  would  not  have 
a  heart  to  listen  to  his  cry,  and  a  tongue 
to  speak  in  his  defense,  though  around 
his  head  all  the  wrath  of  public  opinion 
should  gather,  and  rage,  and  roar,  and 
roll,  as  the  ocean  rolls  around  the  rock. 
And  if  I  ever  forget,  if  I  ever  deny,  that 
highest  duty  of  my  profession,  may  God 
palsy  this  arm  and  hush  my  voice  forever. 

[Colonel  Baker  here  went  into  a  long 
analysis  of  all  the  evidence.] 

Mrs.  Knight  swears  that  Richardson 
had  one  arm  raised.  Two  others,  for 
the  prosecution  also,  say  he  had  not. 
Remember  that  the  raising  of  his  arm 

307 


Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

is  life  or  death  to  us.  If  Cora  killed 
him  with  his  hands  down,  it  is  murder; 
if  there  was  a  struggle,  it  was  different. 
I  believe  Eichardson  was  brave.  I  don't 
believe  that  the  man  lives  who,  twice  in 
one  day,  could  back  Eichardson  up 
against  a  door,  and  put  a  pistol  to  his 
bosom  and  hold  it  there,  while  he,  Eich 
ardson,  cowered  like  a  slave.  Is  there  no 
moral  law  to  be  observed  ?  Is  there  no 
correspondence  in  the  nature  of  things  ? 
Did  Eichardson,  as  Mrs.  Knight  says, 
raise  his  arms?  Did  he,  as  Getting 
says,  have  his  arms  pinioned  ?  Now, 
before  you  go  one  step  farther  towards 
a  conclusion,  you  must  be  satisfied  on 
that  point,  and  you  must  all  agree  upon 
it.  Again,  a  pistol,  cocked,  was  found 
near  his  hand.  Now,  I  want  to  utter 
a  word  upon  which  eternal  things  may 
depend.  I  ask  you,  was  that  pistol 
drawn  before  Eichardson  was  shot? 
Can  you  believe  he  stood  up  in  that 
doorway  for  four  minutes  with  a  pistol 

308 


The  Defense  of  Cora. 

cocked  and  say  he  was  unarmed?  Mr. 
Cook  may  have  been  mistaken,  but 
whether  he  was  or  not,  the  pistol  was 
there,  the  knife  was  there.  They  were 
drawn;  he  drew  them;  they  were  drawn 
in  combat;  and,  being  drawn,  it  justified 
the  utmost  extremity  of  arms,  before  men 
or  angels. 

In  relation  to  the  impeachment  of  the 
witness  Thomas,  it  is  no  argument  that 
he  did  not  tell  the  truth  because  he  sells 
fruit,  or  because  he  failed  in  business, 
or  because  his  character  in  relation  to 
women  is  bad.  I  might  enter  into  an 
elaborate  argument  to  show  that  because 
he  sells  fruit  he  is  all  the  more  liable  to 
tell  the  truth,  because  he  deals  in  the 
fruits  of  nature.  I  would  be  very  sorry 
to  say  that  he  told  a  lie  because  he  failed 
in  business,  because,  then,  all  the  good 
men  who  have  failed  here,  and  who  will 
fail,  would  be  considered  unworthy  of 
credence.  And  as  to  his  character  in 
relation  to  women,  I  have  only  to  say 


Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

that  charity  is  one  thing,  and  veracity 
another.  The  theory  of  the  prosecution 
is  that  we  bribed  Thomas,  and  Glen- 
non,  and  Marsh,  and  Corbiniere.  II 
would  be  strange  if  in  all  this  bribery 
we  could  not  get  one  man  who  saw  some 
identical  fact  fatal  to  the  prosecution 
Why  did  not  we  get  some  one  to  pul 
into  the  mouth  of  Richardson  such  words 
as  "D — n  you,  I'll  shoot  you,  anyhow." 
I  cannot  see  that  there  could  be  any 
more  perfect  clincher  to  the  case.  ] 
ask  you,  if  our  side  intended  to  corrupt 
or  bribe,  why  could  we  not  get  some 
man  to  prove  that  ?  According  to  theii 
account,  could  not  Glennon  swear  to  any 
thing?  The  case  rests  on  the  proba 
bility  of  statements  as  to  facts,  and  there 
is  something  in  the  human  heart  native 
to  truth  which  will  give  credence  to  the 
story  of  our  witnesses,  unless  there  be 
some  specific  affirmation  to  the  contrary. 
I  will  now  proceed  to  grapple  with 
the  great  bugbear  of  the  case.  The 

310 


The  Defense  of  Cora. 

complaint,  on  their  side,  is  that  Belle 
Cora  has  tampered  with  the  witnesses. 
Mr.  Byrne  has  chosen  to  declare  that  the 
line  of  defense  was  concocted  in  a  place 
which  he  has  been  pleased  to  designate 
as  a  haunt  of  sensuality.  In  plain  Eng 
lish,  Belle  Cora  is  helping  her  friend  as 
much  as  she  can.  It  may  appear  strange 
to  him,  but  I  am  inclined  to  admit  the 
plain,  naked  fact ;  and  in  the  Lord's  name, 
who  else  should  help  him?  Who  else 
is  there  whose  duty  it  is  to  help  him  ? 
If  it  were  not  for  her,  he  would  not  have 
a  friend  on  earth.  This  howling,  raging 
public  opinion  would  banish  every  friend, 
even  every  man  who  once  lived  near  him. 
The  associates  of  his  life  have  fled  in  the 
day  of  trouble.  Sunshine  friends,  who 
basked  in  the  noontide  of  its  beaming, 
have  vanished  in  the  hour  of  its  decline. 
It  is  a  woman  of  base  profession,  of  more 
than  easy  virtue,  of  malign  fame,  of  a 
degraded  caste, —  it  is  one  poor,  weak, 
feeble,  and,  if  you  like  it,  wicked  woman, 

311 


Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

— to  her  alone  he  owes  his  ability  to 
employ  counsel  to  present  his  defense. 

What  we  want  to  know  is,  what  have 
they  against  that?  What  we  want  to 
know  is,  why  don't  they  admire  it  ?  What 
we  want  to  know  is,  why  don't  they  admit 
the  supremacy  of  the  divine  spark  in  the 
merest  human  bosom,  as  if  to  teach  that 
there  is  good  in  things  most  evil  ?  The 
history  of  this  case  is,  I  suppose,  that 
this  man  and  this  woman  have  formed  a 
mutual  attachment,  not  sanctioned,  if  you 
like,  by  the  usages  of  society, —  thrown 
out  of  the  pale  of  society, —  if  you  like, 
not  sanctioned  by  the  rights  of  the 
Church.  It  is  but  a  trust  in  each  other, 
a  devotion  to  the  last,  amid  all  the  dan 
gers  of  the  dungeon  and  all  the  terrors 
of  the  scaffold.  They  were  bound  to 
gether  by  a  tie  which  angels  might  not 
blush  to  approve.  A  bad  woman  may 
lose  her  virtue;  it  would  be  infinitely 
worse  to  lose  her  faith  according  to  her 
own  standard.  If  you  mean  to  say  that 

312 


The  Defense  of  Cora. 

it  is  a  reproach  to  this  man  that  he  has 
one  friend,  and  that  a  woman,  to  stand 
by  him,  I  say  that  that  is,  perhaps,  her 
greatest  virtue.  A  man  who  can  attach 
to  him  a  woman,  however  base  in  heart 
and  corrupt  in  life,  is  not  all  bad.  A 
woman  who  can  maintain  her  trust,  who 
can  waste  her  money  like  water  to  stand 
by  her  friend,  whether  that  friend  be  her 
lover  or  paramour,  amid  the  darkest 
clouds  that  can  gather,  that  woman  can 
not  be  all  evil ;  and  if,  in  vice,  and  degra 
dation,  and  pollution,  and  infamy,  she 
rises  so  far  above  it  all  as  to  vindicate 
her  original  nature,  I  must  confess  that 
I  honor  this  trait  of  fidelity.  That  she 
might  go  too  far  in  the  defense  of  her 
friend,  no  man  can  doubt.  If  I  were 
charged  with  the  crime  of  murder,  and 
my  friends,  insects  born  in  a  summer's 
beam,  were  to  flee  from  me,  if  my  good 
name  stood  me  in  no  stead,  if  I  were 
bound  at  the  altar,  if  the  sacrificial  priest 
were  to  have  his  arm  bared  and  knife 

313 


Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

brandished  to  strike  —  my  wife  would 
stand  by  me,  and  if  she  should  bribe  a 
juror,  would  I  condemn  her?  Would 
you?  The  rigid  moralist  would  con 
demn,  and  the  stern  judge  would  punish, 
but  her  act  would  accord  with  the  prin 
ciples  of  human  nature  —  irrepressible, 
uncontrollable,  higher  than  all  law. 

That  a  woman  should,  in  adversity  and 
bitterness,  and  sorrow  and  crime,  stand 
by  her  friend  in  the  dungeon,  on  the 
scaffold,  with  her  money,  and  tears,  and 
defiance,  and  vengeance,  all  combined,  is 
human  and  natural.  This  woman  is  bad ; 
she  has  forgotten  her  chastity — fallen 
by  early  temptation  from  her  high  estate; 
and  among  the  matronage  of  the  land 
her  name  shall  never  be  heard.  She  has 
but  one  tie,  she  acknowledges  but  one 
obligation,  and  that  she  performs  in  the 
gloom  of  the  cell  and  the  dread  of  death ; 
nor  public  opinion,  nor  the  passions  of  the 
multitude,  nor  the  taunts  of  angry  counsel, 
nor  the  vengeance  of  the  judge,  can  sway 

314 


The  Defense  of  Cora. 

her  for  a  moment  from  her  course.  If 
any  of  you  have  it  in  your  heart  to  con 
demn,  and  say  "  Stand  back !  I  am  holier 
than  thou,"  remember  Magdalene,  name 
written  in  the  Book  of  Life. 

I  feel  prouder  of  human  nature.  I 
have  learned  a  new  lesson.  Hide  him 
in  the  felon's  grave,  with  no  inscription 
consecrated  to  the  spot;  and  when  you 
have  forgotten  it,  and  the  memories  of 
the  day  are  past,  there  will  be  one  bosom 
to  heave  a  sigh  in  penitence  and  prayer, 
there  will  be  one  eye  to  weep  a  refresh 
ing  tear  over  the  sod,  one  trembling 
hand  to  plant  flowers  above  his  head. 
Let  them  make  the  most  of  it.  I  scorn 
the  imputation  that  infamy  should  rest 
on  him  for  her  folly  and  her  faith.  Let 
them  make  the  most  of  it,  and  when  the 
great  Judge  of  all  shall  condemn, —  when, 
in  that  dread  hour,  you  and  I  and  she 
shall  stand  at  the  common  tribunal  for 
the  deeds  done  or  aimed  to  be  done  at 
this  day, — if  this  be  remembered  against 

315 


Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

her  at  all,  it  will  be  lost  in  the  record  of 
a  thousand  crimes  perpetrated  by  high 
and  noble  souls.  Let  a  man  who  feels 
in  his  heart  no  responsive  type  of  such 
traits  of  goodness,  of  truest  courage  in 
darkest  destiny,  let  that  man  be  the  first 
to  put  his  hand  to  the  bloody  verdict. 
Beyond  this  there  is  nothing  more  to  be 
said.  The  imputation  on  our  witnesses 
is  that  they  went  to  Belle  Cora's.  The 
imputation  on  their  witnesses  is  the  same 
thing.  What  then?  It  proves  nothing. 
There  is  public  opinion  now ;  there 
was  no  such  thing  as  genuine  public 
opinion  at  the  time  of  the  homicide  —  it 
was  bastard.  It  is  now  calm,  intelligent, 
reflecting,  determined,  and  just.  If  you 
mean  to  be  the  oracles  of  this  public 
opinion,  in  God's  name,  speak  !  If  you 
mean  to  be  priests  of  the  divinity  which 
honest  men  may  worship,  answer!  If 
you  are  the  votaries  of  the  other,  you 
are  but  the  inflamed  Cassandra  of  a 
diseased  imagination  and  of  a  prurient 

316 


The  Defense  of  Cora. 

public  mind.  If  of  the  former,  I  bow  at 
your  feet,  in  honor  of  the  mysteries  of 
your  worship.  Against  this  man  the 
public  press,  so  potent  for  good,  so 
mighty  for  evil,  inflames  and  convulses 
the  public  mind  and  judgment.  There 
is  not  one  thing  they  have  said  that  is  in 
accordance  with  truth  and  justice ;  there 
is  not  one  version  they  have  given  that 
is  based  on  testimony  and  facts. 

My  task  is  performed.  In  the  name 
of  our  common  humanity;  in  the  name 
of  Him  who  died  for  that  humanity ;  by 
the  remembrance  of  your  mothers  and 
fathers ;  by  your  respect  and  admiration 
for  woman,  the  nearest  and  dearest  ties 
that  we  can  feel ;  by  your  consciousness 
of  your  own  imperfections,  I  adjure  you 
to  consider  in  mercy.  And,  as  you  deal 
with  the  prisoner,  may  the  common 
Father  of  us  all  deal  with  you.  So 
may  the  prayers  of  the  mother  whose 
heart  yet  yearns  toward  him  reach  you. 
So  may  his  future  life  evince  the  sincerity 

317 


Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

of  his  repentance  in  the  solitude  of  the 
jail.  So  may  you  be  prosperous.  And 
so  may  you  answer  for  your  judgment  on 
that  great  day  when  you  and  the  prisoner 
at  the  bar  shall  alike  stand  up  to  answer 
for  all  the  deeds  done  in  the  body. 


318 


DEDICATION      OF      LONE 
MOUNTAIN    CEMETEEY 

IMMORTALITY 


DEDICATION  OF  LONE  MOUNTAIN 
CEMETEEY  —  IMMOETALITY. 

THE  first  shall  be  last.  Colonel  Baker 
delivered  the  address  at  the  dedication 
of  Lone  Mountain  Cemetery  on  the  30th 
of  May,  1854.  His  body  was  there 
interred,  with  imposing  ceremonies,  on 
the  llth  of  December,  1861.  On  the 
last  occasion,  after  all  else  had  been 
done,  Thomas  Starr  King  (whom  Baker's 
death  had  left  greatest  in  the  State), 
standing  by  the  unfilled  grave,  said: 
"  We  have  borne  him  now  to  the  home 
of  the  dead,  to  the  cemetery  which,  after 
fit  services  of  prayer,  he  devoted  in  a  ten 
der  and  thrilling  speech,  to  its  hallowed 
purposes." 

This  speech  has  been  lost,  or  it  would 
have  the  first  place  in  this  collection. 

Bishop  Kip,  of  the  Episcopal  Church, 
and  Bev.  F.  T.  Gray,  also  made  addresses 
on  that  occasion. 

321 


Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

Frank  Soule  and  F.  B.  Austin  read 
original  poems.  The  Mayor,  C.  K.  Gar 
rison,  gave  a  history  of  the  private 
enterprise  resulting  in  the  setting  apart 
of  the  cemetery.  There  were  prayers 
by  Bishop  Kip  and  Eev.  A.  Williams; 
a  selected  choir  rendered  three  anthems 
and  the  Doxology;  and  the  "Benedic 
tion  "  was  by  Eev.  W.  A.  *  Scott,  Pres 
byterian. 

The  city  cemetery  up  to  that  time  was 
in  the  area  now  covered  by  the  City  Hall, 
between  Market,  McAllister,  and  Larkin 
streets.  The  Lone  Mountain  undertaking 
was  by  a  private  corporation,  composed 
of  Nathaniel  Gray,  Frank  B.  Austin,  and 
William  H.  Eanlett,  who  purchased  a 
tract  of  one  hundred  and  seventy-three 
acres.  The  title  Lone  Mountain,  changed 
many  years  later  to  Laurel  Hill,  was 
selected  by  a  council  of  advisers,  after 
the  name  of  the  elevation  touching  the 
tract  on  the  south. 

It  was  a  long  time  before  the  old  ceme- 

322 


Lone  Mountain — Immortality. 

tery  was  discharged  of  its  solemn  trust 
and  its  precious  dust,  to  make  place  for 
the  present  City  Hall.  The  remains  of 
Hon.  Edward  Gilbert  were  not  removed 
therefrom  to  Lone  Mountain  until  May  2, 
1863.  This  was  done  by  Eureka  Typo 
graphical  Union,  to  which  Mr.  Gilbert 
belonged.  Baker,  in  his  reply  to  Benja 
min,  referred  to  the  many  defeats  of  the 
Whig  party.  If  he  had  arrived  in  San 
Francisco  a  little  earlier,  he  would  have 
seen  a  Whig,  in  the  person  of  Gilbert, 
representing  the  city  in  the  lower  House 
of  Congress.  Gilbert  came  here  as  early 
as  the  spring  of  '47.  He  was  raised  to 
the  printer's  trade.  On  January  4, 1849, 
he  and  others  founded  the  Alt  a  California 
newspaper,  and  he  wrote  the  editorials. 
He  was  a  member  of  the  first  Constitu 
tional  Convention,  1849.  On  August  2, 
1852,  he  fell  in  a  duel  with  pistols  with 
General  James  W.  Denver,  in  Sacramento 
County.  He  was  a  native  of  New  York, 
and  at  his  death  was  thirty  years  of  age. 


Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

Baker,  in  his  Broderick  Oration,  links 
his  name  with  those  of  Broderick  and 
Ferguson.  General  Denver  was  one  of 
three  brothers  very  prominent  in  Demo 
cratic  politics,  all  acquiring  high  official 
station.  The  General  was  State  Senator 
from  Trinity  when  he  fought  this  duel. 
Afterwards  he  was  twice  Secretary  of 
State,  and  resigned  on  being  elected  to 
Congress.  He  was  a  brigadier-general 
in  the  Federal  Army  during  the  War  of 
the  Rebellion.  Colorado's  capital  is 
named  after  him.* 

The  attendance  at  the  Lone  Mountain 
Dedication  was  large,  the  weather  beauti 
ful — and  observe  the  date,  MAY  THIRTI 
ETH  !  The  ladies  comprised  at  least  one 
half  of  those  present.  Of  course  there 

*  Broderick  and  Denver  were  in  the  State  Senate  at 
the  same  time,  1852.  Although  belonging  to  the  same 
party,  they  were  not  cordial,  and  Broderick  in  conversa 
tion  referred  to  Denver  as  "  the  huge-thighed  Senator 
from  Trinity."  Denver,  who  was  a  very  large  man,  of 
splendid  presence,  smarted  under  this,  but  it  was  hardly 
provocation  for  a  duel,  even  in  those  days.  He  was  still 
biding  his  time  when  Broderick  was  called  out  by  Terry. 

324 


Lone  Mountain — Immortality. 

were  no  street-cars  at  that  day  —  indeed, 
there  were  no  streets  within  miles  of  the 
place.  The  only  available  route  was 
along  Pacific  Street,  and  the  old  road  to 
the  Presidio,  and  thence  south  over  the 
high  ridge  leading  out  to  Point  Lobos. 
Omnibuses  left  the  City  Hall  (since  the 
Old  City  Hall  —  now  the  Hall  of  Justice) 
every  half  hour  from  8 : 30  to  10 : 30  A.  M. 
The  exercises  were  begun  at  eleven,  and 
occupied  the  rest  of  the  day,  with  inter 
missions. 

It  was  a  pleasant  nook,  then  called 
"  The  Dell,"  not  especially  attractive  but 
for  the  circumstance  that  nature  had 
reserved  and  protected  it  from  a  girdle 
of  sand-dunes.  Before  they  carried 
Baker  back  to  his  illustrious  sepulture, 
the  prospect  far  around  was  redeemed 
by  the  hand  of  man,  and  was  all  green 
and  gold  with  the  refreshment  of  streams 
and  fountains.  "An  air  of  such  utter 
loneliness  and  solitude  pervades  the 
place,"  said  a  writer  of  that  time,  refer- 

325 


Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

ring  to  "  The  Dell,"  "  that  a  stranger,  upon 
entering  it,  before  he  had  seen  a  grave 
or  a  tomb,  would  at  once  come  to  the 
conclusion  that  it  was  a  cemetery.  Na 
ture  seems  to  have  designed  it  for  the 
very  purpose  for  which  it  has  been  set 
apart." 

The  Editor,  who  arrived  in  San  Fran 
cisco  some  weeks  prior  to  this  event, 
would  like  to  show  the  kind  reader  to 
the  spot  where  the  ceremonies  took 
place. 

"  The  Dell "  was  in  the  western  end  of 
the  cemetery,  near  the  Old  Lodge,  which 
was  moved  there  in  1894,  to  make  place 
for  the  present  splendid  Lodge,  or  office 
building.  The  then  somewhat  romantic 
little  hollow  was  cleared  of  underbrush 
many  years  before  that  time,  and  filled 
in  with  sand.  Many  hundreds  of  burials 
have  been  made  there,  and  it  is  still  being 
used  for  this  purpose. 

There  is  nothing  to  mark  the  old  spot 
or  recall  the  old  day.  The  old  Lodge, 


. 
Lone  Mountain  — -Immortality. 

at  least,  instead  of  being  placed  hard  by, 
might  well  have  been  planted  on  the  very 
site  where  Baker  stood.  The  image  of 
Baker  in  white  marble,  "  Godlike,  erect," 
a  shaft  of  light,  would  be  fittest  memo 
rial — would  it  not?  The  lips  in  speech, 
a  hand  upraised,  and  the  noble  head  un 
covered  to  the  winds  of  heaven?  But 
read  on. 

The  city  and  the  State  were  very  young. 
Not  many  who  made  up  that  presence 
recognized  Baker  as  he  stood  before 
them.  He  was  even  then  quite  gray,  at 
the  age  of  forty-three. 

An  extract  from  Baker's  speech  has 
been  preserved.  It  is  as  follows:  — 

Perhaps  it  may  be  well  to  acknowledge  as  a  principle 
the  great  fact  of  immortality.  No  man  desires  annihila 
tion.  No  man.  whatever  be  his  faults  or  his  crimes,  is 
willing  to  go  into  endless  night ;  and  when  we  come  here, 
however  loath  we  may  be  to  stand  in  the  Divine  Presence, 
still  we  recognize  the  fact  that  we  are  immortal,  and  the 
truth  peals  like  eternal  thunder  in  our  ears,  "  Thou  shalt 
live  forever!"  With  these  thoughts  we  dedicate  this 
spot.  Here  future  generations,  in  long  and  solemn  pro 
cession,  shall  bring  warriors  who  have  given  their  lives 
for  their  country;  statesmen,  remembered  by  the  liberty 
they  helped  to  create,  and  the  institutions  they  aided  to 
perfect.  Here  shall  be  brought  the  poet,  who,  buoyant, 
327 


Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

passed  through  sea  and  land,  through  earth  and  sky,  and 
vale  and  river,  penetrating  the  affections  and  accomplish 
ing  the  refinement  of  men.  The  projector  —  worn  with 
toil  and  gray  with  thought  — leaving  monuments  to  his 
fame  and  memorials  of  his  greatness,  here,  too,  shall  come 
to  end  his  life ;  and,  too,  the  tender  maiden,  smitten  in 
early  blossom;*  and  the  little  child,  the  pledge  of  love, 
to  whose  grave  the  aching  heart  shall  oft  repair  to  weep 
and  pray. 

Kev.  Albert  Williams,  who  was  present, 
refers  thus  to  this  dedication,  in  his  book, 
"A  Pioneer  Pastorate":  — 

Intensely  interesting  and  ever-memorable  was  the 
eloquent  oration  delivered  by  our  singularly  gifted  Pacific 
Coast  orator,  Colonel  E.  D.  Baker.  While  every  part  of 
that  oration  was  most  fitting  and  impressive,  and  passage 
after  passage  thrilled  the  hearts  of  the  large  assemblage 
gathered  in  "The  Dell,"  especially  sublime  was  that  por 
tion  of  which  the  theme  was  the  Resurrection,  and  which 
the  speaker  closed  with  a  recitation,  in  truest  pathos,  of 
the  stanza  from  Dr.  Watts :  — 

God,  my  Redeemer,  lives, 

And  often  from  the  skies 
Looks  down  and  watches  all  my  dust, 
Till  He  shall  bid  it  rise. 

His  aspiring  spirit  was  advised  of  the 
invisible  things  of  a  higher  life.f  He 

*  At  last  the  rootlets  of  the  trees 
Shall  find  the  prison  where  she  lies, 
And  bear  the  buried  dust  they  seize 
In  leaves  and  blossoms  to  the  skies. 
So  may  the  Soul  that  warmed  it,  rise ! 

— Holmes. 

t Believe  all  that  thy  heart  prompts;  for  everything 
that  it  seeks,  exists.—  Plato. 

328 


Lone  Mountain — Immortality. 

could  not  be  better  pictured  to  aftertimes 
than  as  he  stood  now  —  nor  have  a  more 
commanding  place  in  the  memory  of 
men. 

We  will  leave  the  great  man  there! 
His  mortality  is  there,  indeed,  to  remain, 
as  he  said  over  Ferguson,  "in  its  last 
resting-place  until  the  trump  of  the 
Archangel  shall  sound " ;  but  we  will 
leave  the  man  there,  also,  in  his  abound 
ing  prime.  We  will  take  our  last  affec 
tionate  look  at  him,  while  he  is  speaking, 
as  it  were,  to  time  and  to  eternity,  and 
pointing  upward. 

It  was  with  such  a  sentiment  that 
Dickens  parted  with  AGNES,  that  best 
creation  of  his  mind,  said  to  be  the 
finest  character  in  the  whole  range  of 
fiction.  He  had  seen  her  in  that  attitude 
more  than  once,  when  she  was  more  per 
suasive  than  speech  —  an  angel  in  the 
house  of  sickness  and  the  shadow  of 
death  —  and  he  gave  her  this  final  apos 
trophe  : — 


Masterpieces  of  E.  D.  Baker. 

41  Oh,  Agnes !  Oh,  my  soul !  so  may  thy  face  be  by  me 
when  I  close  my  life  indeed ;  so  may  I,  when  realities  are 
melting  from  me  like  the  shadows  which  I  now  dismiss, 
still  find  thee  near  me,  pointing  upward!" 

Very  often,  in  professional  and  party 
conflict,  on  the  battle-field,  and  in  the 
high  councils  of  State,  Baker  attracted 
the  universal  eye.  But  he  really  never 
stood  on  a  more  elevated  tribune  than 
when,  on  the  very  verge  of  the  continent, 
under  the  inducement  of  the  illimitable 
sea  and  sky,  and  pointing  upward,  he 
asserted  the  immortality  of  the  soul  of 
man. 

We  will  leave  the  great  man  there  — 
rather  we  will  keep  him  ever  present  to 
the  mind  and  heart,  as  he  stood  on  the 
ocean's  bound  that  far-off  day  —  in  the 
new  home  for  mortal  rest, —  in  "The 
Dell "  —  pointing  upward  1 


380 


INDEX 


INDEX. 

PAGE 

Adams,  John  Quincy :  Views  on  Secession 149,  151 

"Affection,  Forgiveness,  Faith" 52 

American  Theater  Speech 89 

Anecdotes:  The  Duke  of  York 218 

Old  Boiling  Green 199 

Dr.  Johnson 137 

Governor  Low's  Wager —    89 

Baker's  Courtship 281 

Apostrophe  to  Science 22 

Atlantic  Cable  Address 15 

Austin,  F.  B.:  Poet  at  Lone  Mountain  Dedication 322 

Baker,  E.  D. ;  Introductory  Notice  9 

Further  History.  . .  13,  40,  63, 131,  227,  243,  273,  289,  319 

Death  of 273 

Family  of 278 

Poem  by 283 

Benjamin,  Judah  P. :  Reply  to 131 

Bigler,  Governor  John:  Witness  in  Cora  Case 289 

Brady,  James  T. :  Allusion  to 227 

Breckinridge,  JohnC.:  Reply  to 243 

Broderick,  David  C. :  Notice  of 63,  324 

Duel  with  Judge  Terry 64 

Baker's  Oration 67 

Byrne,  Henry  H.:  District  Attorney  in  Cora  Case 289 

Campbell,  Alexander:  Counsel  in  Cora  Case 289 

Casey,  James  P. :  Hung  by  Vigilance  Committee 291 

Cerro  Gordo,  Battle  of :  Allusion  to 236 

Character. 44 

Collins,  John  A. :  Tribute  to  Baker 291 

Cometof  1858:  Allusion  to 30 

Cora,  Charles:  Trial  of 287 

His  Execution 291 

Marries  Belle  Cora  in  Jail 291 

Baker's  Defense  of 293 

333 


Index. 

Dedication  of  Lone  Mountain  Cemetery 319 

Denver,  General  Jas.  W. :  Duel  with  Edward  Gilbert.  323-324 

Dickens  and  "  Agnes  "  329 

Dickinson,  Daniel  S. :  Tribute  to  Baker 227 

Dix,  General  John  A. :  Allusion  to 227 

Douglas,  Stephen  A. :  Allusions  to 93, 132,  189 

Duels  — Dueling 48,64,  323 

Baker's  Protest.... 80-81 

Duke  of  York  as  Bishop;  Anecdote  of 218 

Eaton,  1.  Ward:  One  of  the  Cora  Jury 289 

Easterly,  Jno.  M.       "  " 289 

Enthusiastic  Scene  in  American  Theater 115 

Eureka  Typographical  Union :  Burial  of  Gilbert 323 

Ferguson,  Wm.  I.:  Notice  of 39 

Duel  with  Geo.  Pen  Johnston 39 

Baker's  Eulogy 41 

Fessenden,  Wm.  Pitt:  " The  Tarpeian  Rock " 244,  261 

Flint,  Edward  P.:  One  of  the  Cora  Jury 289 

Forbes,  A.  B.:  "  "         289 

Forney,  John  W.:  Baker's  Poem 284 

"  Freedom  " :  Tribute  to 125 

Freedom  and  Slavery 104, 109, 115, 124,  215 

Freelon,  Judge  Thos.  W. :  Baker's  Plea  in  Cora  Case 289 

Fremont,  John  C. :  At  the  American  Theater 92 

Further  Reference. 117,  118 

Fugitive  Slave  Law,  The. 188, 190,  195 

Garibaldi :  Allusion  to 115 

Garrison,  Mayor  C.  K.;   Presides  at  Lone  Mountain 

Dedication 322 

Gilbert,  Edward:  Duel  with  Denver 323 

Gray,  Rev.  F.  T. :  At  Lone  Mountain  Dedication 320 

Gray,  Nathaniel:  Lone  Mountain  Cemetery  Association  322 

Gwin,  William  M. :  References  to 63,  132 

Hager,  Judge  John  S. :  Presides  at  Trial  of  Cora 289 

Haley,  John  J. :  One  of  the  Cora  Jury 289 

Halleck  Block :  On  Site  of  American  Theater 89 

Holmes,  A. :  One  of  the  Cora  Jury 289 

Immortality :  Lone  Mountain  Cemetery 321 

Inge,S.W.:  Counsel  in  the  Cora  Case 289 

334 


Index. 

a  Irrepressible  Conflict,  The" 121,  122 

Jackson,  Andrew :  Views  on  Secession 152,  153 

Jerome,  E.  B. :  Captain  on  Baker's  Staff 279 

Johnson,  Governor  J.  Neely:  Proclaims  San  Francisco 

in  Insurrection 291 

Johnson,  Dr.  Samuel:  Anecdote  of 137 

Johnston,  Geo.  Pen :  Duel  with  Ferguson 39-40 

Joyce,  M. :  One  of  the  Cora  Jury. 289 

King  of  William ,  J ames :  Killed  by  Casey 291 

King,  Thomas  Starr :  At  Baker's  Sepulture 321 

Kip,  Bishop  W.  I. :  At  Lone  Mountain  Dedication 321 

Lane,  GeneralJoseph:  Allusion  to 103 

Latham,  Milton  S. :  Election  as  Governor. 64 

Presents  Baker's  Credentials  in  Senate 131 

Legal  Profession,  The :  Baker's  Tribute 306 

Lincoln,  Abraham :  Carries  California  and  Oregon 13L 

Further  Reference 118, 188, 189, 193,  243 

Lone  Mountain  Cemetery:  Dedication  in  1854 321 

Original  Incorporators 321 

Low,  Governor  F.  F.:  Loses  a  Wager  with  Baker 89 

Mayer,  Jacob:  One  of  the  Cora  Jury 289 

Missouri  Compromise,  The:  Reference  to 196,  198 

Motley's  "  Dutch  Republic " :       "        "    174 

McDougall,  James  A. :  Counsel  in  Cora  Case 290 

Other  Reference 266 

Nesmith,  James  W.:  Baker's  Colleague  in  the  Senate..  120 

New  York  Monster  Mass-Meeting  of  1861 227 

Nugent,  John :  Witness  in  Cora  Case  302 

Views  of  the  Herald  on  Cora's  Act 288 

"Old  Boiling  Green":  Anecdote  of 199 

"  Old  Gray  Eagle  " :  Baker  So  Titled 244 

Olmstead,  Thos.  C.  D.:  One  of  the  Cora  Jury. 289 

Perley,  D.  W. :  Challenges  Senator  Broderick  to  a  Duel    64 

Pericles  on  the  Grandeur  of  Athens 32-33 

Politics:  Pursuitof 53 

Piper,  William  A. :  Foreman  of  the  Cora  Jury 289 

Ranlett,  Wm.  H. :  Lone  Mountain  Cemetery  Association  322 

Raymond,  Her.ry  J. :  Allusion  to 227 

Reply  to  Benjamin 135 

335 


Index. 


Reply  to  Breckinridge 243 

Revolution  of  1688 173 

Richardson,  Wm.  H.,  U.  S.  Marshal:  Killing  of. 287 

"  Right  and  Duty  are  Majestic  Ideas  ". 140 

San  Francisco  Proclaimed  to  be  in  Insurrection 291 

"Science":  Apostrophe  to 22 

Scott,  Rev.  W.  A. :  At  Lone  Mountain  Dedication 322 

Seward,  Wm.  H. :  Allusions  to 99, 121,  122 

Shields,  General  James:  Disabled  at  Cerro  Gordo 244 

Slavery  in  Southern  States 210,  217 

Soule,  Frank:  Poet  at  Lone  Mountain  Dedication 322 

Southern  States, The:  Peopleof 113-114 

Stanly,  Edward :  Eulogy  of  Baker 65,  228 

Stowell,  Wm.  H.:  One  of  the  Cora  Jury 289 

" Tarpeian  Rock,  The  " :  Baker's  Allusion 244, 261 

Terry,  David  S. :  Duel  with  Broderick 64 

"ToaWave":  Poem  by  Baker 283 

Tribute  to  "Freedom". 125 

"       "  the  Legal  Profession 306 

Trumbull,  Lyman :  Allusions  to 132,  243 

Vail,  Chas.  H. :  One  of  the  Cora  Jury 289 

Victor  Emanuel:    Allusion  to 115 

Victoria,  Queen:          "         " 115 

Vigilance  Committee  of  1856 287,  291 

War....: 23 

Webster,  Daniel:  Views  on  Secession..  .146, 147, 155, 221,  223 

Weller,  John  B. :  Defeats  Broderick  for  Senator 63 

Whig  Party,  The :  Allusions  to 94,  95,  99,  243 

Williams,  Rev.  A. :  Baker's  Lone  Mountain  Address. 322,  328 
Wilkes,  Geo.:  Notices  of  Baker  and  Broderick... 65,  275,  276 
Yerba  Buena  Cemetery:  Site  of  New  City  Hall 322 


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